Dan Hart is a nonresident senior fellow with the Atlantic Council’s GeoTech Center and president of HarTechnologies LLC, advising technology companies regarding commercial and government markets, strategy, technology, and operations.

Over the course of his career, Hart has served in senior leadership roles across a wide range of aerospace programs, spanning human spaceflight, satellite development, space launch, and missile defense, leading organizations through all phases of the aerospace product life cycle, from research and development, to design, production, and space operations. He is an advisor to executive teams and investors across the space, energy, and technology sectors and is active in the field of wildfire intelligence.

Hart served as chief executive officer of Virgin Orbit, Richard Branson’s pioneering commercial space firm, leading the development and operation of a new space launch method, launching small satellites into space from a rocket carried under the wing of a modified Boeing 747. The company proved technical feasibility in mid-2020, amid the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, and delivered four flawless missions and thirty-three satellites into precise orbits. Prior to Virgin Orbit, Hart served as vice president of government satellite systems at the Boeing Company. In this position, he oversaw Boeing’s government satellite programs, developing and managing missions for the US Department of Defense, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and other national programs. His portfolio included marquee programs such as the Global Positioning System, Wideband Global Satellite Communications, the Tracking and Data Relay Satellites system, and the X-37 spaceplane within Boeing’s National Space Systems portfolio.

Hart was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2022. He served on the US Investment Advisory Council for the US Secretary of Commerce. In early 2020, California Governor Gavin Newsom selected Hart to join the governor’s Task Force on Business and Jobs Recovery to develop actions government and businesses can take to help Californians recover from the COVID-19 induced recession. He is a passionate and committed advocate for STEM education and serves on the board of trustees of the California Science Center as well as the dean’s advisory council for California State University, Long Beach’s College of Engineering.