Speakers

Sal, has recently joined the New Mexico Spaceport Authority (NMSA) – Spaceport America (SpA) team, since late June 2025, and serves as an Aerospace Engineer, with the NMSA Business Development (BizDev) Group.  Sal’s vast technical expertise helps to bridge and make the connections between the business and technical elements of the Space and Aerospace technology Sectors, to the mission of NMSA.

As of July 2023, Sal retired from the Department of Defense, after serving for 28+years of service in Research & Development (R&D), and in Test & Evaluation (T&E).  Sal has served in the United States Air Force as a Flight Test Engineer and as a Civil Servant for the Department of Defense (DoD) for both the Air Force and Navy as a Test and Evaluation Professional.  His professional career has involved supporting as team member and team lead in a variety of R&D & T&E kinetic and directed energy systems in the operational regime of air-to-air, air-to-ground, ground-to-air, ground-to-ground, and space.  Sal’s experience has spanned several hundred projects and the execution of thousands of laboratory tests, and open-air flight test events in a multitude of roles as Senior Flight Test Engineer, Senior Test Conductor, Mission Manager and Mission Director.  His experience has also involved working with several other US Agencies, such as the Department of Energy (DoE), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), in the execution of flight test events that involved Sub-Sonic, Super-Sonic, and Hypersonic Surface and Air Launched Systems, with extensive expertise in Launch Operations of Sub-Orbital Research Rocket Flight Systems. And on his spare time, Sal is working on completing his PhD work at the New Mexico State University – College of Engineering, Industrial Engineering Department.