Dr. David “Dave” Young is a proven transformational leader with 20+ years of experience in aerospace and defense at Tier-1 primes and critical suppliers, helping deliver winning-edge mission capabilities to warfighters and commercial customers. In his current role as Vice President and General Manager of the National Security
Space (NSS) line of business within Lockheed Martin Space, Dave leads the execution of a nearly $7B portfolio comprised of 250+ critical defense and intelligence community programs.

His team of 8,300+ employees are focused on delivering integrated end-toend solutions, high-performance systems, critical space architectures and innovative concepts for national security missions. Before rejoining Lockheed Martin (2024), Dave was the Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for CAES, a defense electronics provider with $1+ billion yearly revenue generation. While at CAES, Dave directed new business growth, program execution, operations, and the company’s technical roadmap. Additionally, he led government relations, communications, and corporate development efforts, playing a key role in the sale of CAES to Honeywell.

Earlier in his career, Dave led Advanced Program Development at Lockheed Martin Space, managing strategic programs and captures across the business while driving innovation and business growth. Prior to his initial stint at Lockheed Martin, Dave spent nearly 12 years at Northrop Grumman in various roles, culminating as Sector Vice President of Business Development and Strategy. During his tenure at Northrop Grumman, he supported critical programs such as: the B-21 Raider; Ground Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD); high altitude UAVs; as well as classified aircraft and various space programs.

In addition to his primary leadership roles, Dave serves on the advisory board for Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering at Clarkson University and the advisory board for School of Arts and Sciences at Clarkson University. His academic achievements include a Ph.D. and a master’s degree in aerospace engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology, and respective bachelor’s degrees Chris leads the Power & Propulsion Element Program at Maxar Space Systems. In this role, he drives all phases of this program, which is one of the major components of NASA’s Gateway Program, which will humanity’s first space station in lunar orbit. Chris has spent most of his career in aerospace, including leading teams focused on new business development, solar array and deployable mechanism engineering, and spacecraft thermal vacuum test operations.

Chris holds a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from Tennessee Technological University, a Master of Science degree in mechanical engineering from Purdue University, a Master of Business Administration from Vanderbilt University Owen Graduate School of Management, and a graduate certification in Space Systems Engineering from the Stevens Institute of Technology.  He is also the interface from Maxar Space System leadership to the Robotics organization headquartered in Pasadena, California.