Moderator: Surging Opportunities for Global Satellite 4G Connectivity & Backhaul

Dr. Denis Curtin retired as COO of XTAR, LLC , the joint venture between Loral Space & Communications, Ltd. and HISDESAT Servicios Estrategicos, S.A. providing commercial X-band satellite services to the U.S. and Allied governments. He had been COO since October 2003. Prior to this he was Executive VP, Engineering and Operations from July 2001 to October 2003 and between January and July 2001 he led the Loral team in negotiating the joint venture.

Previously, Dr. Curtin served as Senior VP, Engineering and Operations for Loral ORION and Executive VP, Loral Cyberstar Broadband Systems. He was responsible for the technical design of the ORION satellites and was instrumental in the formation of the ORION partnership. Dr. Curtin also held a series of progressively senior engineering and management positions at COMSAT Laboratories, COMSAT General and COMSAT, culminating in Senior Director, Satellite Engineering, responsible for all COMSAT’s satellite engineering.

Dr. Curtin has an MS in Physics and a PhD in Mechanical Engineering. He is a Fellow of the American Institutes of Astronautics and Aeronautics (AIAA) and a Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). In 2006 he was named the recipient of the AIAA Aerospace Communications Award, presented for outstanding contributions in the field of aerospace communications. In March 2009 he was inducted into the Society of Satellite Professionals (SSPI) Hall of Fame. In 2010 he was appointed to the board of directors of XTAR LLC. He has published extensively in satellite technology and holds a patent on an infrared transparent solar cell.