Panelist

Kris Kuehnel is the Managing Director for Airbus U.S. Space & Defense, Space Exploration Services and is Head of Site for the Airbus U.S. Houston Space Operations office near the NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC).

Mr. Kuehnel has directly supported NASA & international human spaceflight activities for over 30 years, holding managerial and executive leadership positions with large and small business supporting U.S. and international spaceflight activities in institutional and commercial markets.

Most recently, he represented Airbus US as part of an international team developing the Starlab Commercial Space Station as part of the NASA Commercial LEO Destination (CLD) program.

He also leads Airbus U.S.’s collaboration with NASA, ESA, CASIS and U.S. and European industry to advance the Airbus Bartolomeo External Science and Payload Hosting facility on the International Space Station, helping to position Airbus as a significant contributor in the emerging LEO economy.