Christine Thropp
Jason Mello, a retired U.S. Air Force colonel with over two decades of Department of Defense and intelligence community experience, has joined the advisory board of Outpost Technologies, a satellite technology company offering return-to-Earth capabilities.
Outpost said Monday Mello, with his extensive experience and deep expertise, will help drive the company’s growth and impact by providing insights and strategic guidance.
Mello’s industry career includes time serving as president of Firefly Space Transport Services, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Firefly Aerospace where he was responsible for securing major partnerships with both government and industry partners.
The former service member also worked as director of national intelligence portfolio, heading the oversight team for the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, materiel leader for the Launch Acquisition Division at the National Reconnaissance Office, and several other leadership posts in satellite and intelligence programs.
Mello currently serves as CEO and co-founder of The KMC Group, a defense, intelligence and space consulting firm.
“Earth delivery is essential for the future of the trillion-dollar space economy, providing the necessary cadence to return products manufactured on-orbit,” said Mello. “This capability is core to Outpost’s mission to drive these new technologies and provide space transportation back to Earth.”
Outpost is under a Phase I Small Business Innovation Research contract from the Air Force for the development of reusable satellites that will return to Earth after objective completion and get refurbished for repeat missions. The company is also working on a high output, clean gas generator for large volume deployable aerodynamic decelerators as part of a Phase II SBIR award from NASA.
