Orbital Recovery Corporation Names Space Insurance Expert Kirby Ikin as its Senior Vice President Risk Management
Orbital Recovery Corporation has further strengthened its management team with the appointment of Kirby Ikin as the company’s Senior Vice President Risk Management.
Ikin has extensive experience in the space insurance and risk management sectors, which he will apply to Orbital Recovery’s development of a unique space tug to extend the operational lifetimes of in-orbit telecommunications satellites.
“Kirby Ikin is an industry reference, and we are proud to have him as part of our management team,” Walt Anderson, Orbital Recovery Corporation’s Chief Executive Officer, said. “He will be working from Orbital Recovery’s new Sydney, Australia office, and also will be responsible for our Asia-Pacific business development.”
Ikin was a space insurance underwriter at GIO in Australia for 10 years, and became Managing Director of GIO Space in 1998. He subsequently was responsible for the planned commercial operations at the Asia-Pacific Space Centre, and continued on its board after returning full time to Austen Greer Consulting.
Active for many years in the Australian space industry, Ikin currently is a member of the federal government’s International Space Advisory Group which is advising the Australian Prime Minister’s office on space policy and industry development. He also is Chairman of the Board of the U.S.-based National Space Society.
Orbital Recovery Corporation is developing its Geosynch Spacecraft Life Extension System (SLESTM) as a novel concept to significantly prolong the operating lifetimes of valuable telecommunications satellites – which today are junked when their on-board fuel supply runs out. In addition, the SLES will be used to rescue spacecraft that have been placed in a wrong orbit by their launch vehicles, or which have become stranded in an incorrect orbital location during positioning maneuvers.
Definition work on the SLES has been completed, and Orbital Recovery Corporation is creating its industrial team by seeking competitive bids for spacecraft hardware and systems from international suppliers. First flight of the SLES is targeted for 2004.
Additional information on Orbital Recovery Corporation is available on the company’s Website: http://www.orbitalrecovery.com.
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