Shey Sabripour

Bio

Shey Sabripour is the Founder and CEO of CesiumAstro, where he leads the company’s mission to revolutionize space-based connectivity. Based in Austin, Texas, CesiumAstro has grown under Shey’s leadership from a handful of employees in 2017 to more than 300 today, with operations in the U.S., U.K., Germany, and Japan. The company serves both national security and commercial customers, offering advanced active phased array (APA) communication systems and satellites that set new standards for performance and affordability.

Shey brings more than three decades of experience in the aerospace industry, having spearheaded the design, development, and launch of low-Earth orbit (LEO) and geosynchronous orbit (GEO) telecommunication satellites, launch vehicles, and interplanetary space systems. Before founding CesiumAstro, Shey served as Chief Technology Officer at Firefly Space Systems, a rocket company based in Austin. There, he led the technical and program management of the Alpha Rocket, growing the team from 11 engineers to over 160 and securing key contracts with NASA and DARPA.

During his 24-year career at Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Shey held a variety of leadership roles, including Director of Spacecraft Design, where he managed a team of 370 professionals working on missions valued between $100M and $1B. His achievements include leading the design and flight of the first Lockheed Martin commercial active phased array payload and overseeing the development of the U.S. Navy’s first Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) communication satellite. Lockheed Martin recognized Shey 14 times as an innovator and program leader, earning the distinction of 2005 Person of the Year at Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems.

Shey earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from North Dakota State University. He has pursued continuing education in engineering and executive business management at institutions such as Carnegie Mellon University, Santa Clara University, and the Lockheed Martin Center for Leadership Excellence. In addition to co-authoring the textbook Spacecraft Power Technologies for Imperial College Press, Shey holds three issued and two pending U.S. patents. He is a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA).