David Thomas

Summary

Accomplished executive, science diplomat, and research scientist with 30 years of experience, now dedicated to advancing space ecosystems and innovation communities worldwide. As founding Director of the Milo Space Science Institute, modeled as a university-led space agency, he built the institute from incorporation into a consortium that has engaged more than 150 organizations across 40 countries, produced 12 international agreements and $MM in awarded contracts, and established the legal, policy, and export-control frameworks that make sovereign co-ownership of space missions possible. He is the architect of Milo's Mission-Based Learning methodology for building space ecosystems. The model has been refined in Ecuador, Australia, South Korea, Canada, and Puerto Rico, and it underpins the U.S. Embassy–sponsored Ecuador programs, and the U.S. Department of State's Distinguished Humphrey Fellowship Program in space policy, which he co-leads at ASU. He is an award-winning ASU faculty member (2025 Outstanding Faculty Award).

Select International Space Ecosystem Development Examples

United Arab Emirates. Engaged the wider UAE ecosystem, signed MOUs with the UAE Space Agency and Abu Dhabi University and is working to establish Milo UAE as the consortium's first in-country extension.

Ecuador. Designed and directed the Milo Planetary Innovation Challenge — Ecuador under a U.S. Department of State public diplomacy award through U.S. Mission Ecuador (2024–25), reaching approximately 100 students from UDLA and ESPOL in twelve mentored teams over nine weeks, and built intentionally to show university students compelling prospects. Milo's Ecuador Ambassador went on to co-found the Ecuador Space Society. Delivered executive programs to C-suite leaders, deans, and heads of agencies in Guayaquil and Quito.

Indo-Pacific and the Americas. Partnered with the L'Space team to implement mission-based programs with Australian Remote Operations in Space and on Earth (AROSE) on an Australian lunar mission studio, with South Korean partners on lunar mobility, and with the Puerto Rico Science, Technology and Research Trust.

Artemis Accords. Co-leads, with Milo Chief Scientist Jim Bell, the U.S. Department of State's Distinguished Humphrey Fellowship program in space policy, awarded to ASU in 2026. The program advances the Artemis Accords and the U.S. Strategic Framework for Space Diplomacy by giving Fellows working command of U.S. space governance and a pathway to partnership with the United States.

Teaching

Graduate Degree courses: Global Space Entrepreneurship · Space Diplomacy: Global States and Markets · Professional Leadership Development · Space for Global Future Leaders · Space in the Age of AI.

Executive Certificate (non-degree) programs: Space Leadership, Business and Policy, Washington DC, October 2024, May 2025, November 2025 · Space Leadership and Diplomacy, Ecuador, October 2025, January 2026

Workshops and Webinars: Space Diplomacy: a principled approach to soft power that supports socio-economic stability · Space for Earth: Using constellations for terrestrial applications and markets · Space Power and Security Space + AI: mastering the convergence of transformational domains · Agile Space Leadership: how to lead in the presence of uncertain end states and resources · Space Leadership Alumni Series: Engaging in Space Diplomacy in Latin America · Space Leadership Alumni Series: Infrastructure as a Service, the next strategic leap in space commerce · Space Leadership Alumni Series: A unified, export compliant space resource marketplace supporting the U.S. military and its close allies · Space Technology and Innovation at the Edge · Space Leadership in the Age of Transformational Technologies · The Intersection of Space Policy and Industry, and the crucible created by real-time technological disruption.

Selected Platforms

United Nations, Vienna, invited (2026) · Meridian Space Diplomacy Forum, Washington DC (2025) · Space Symposium, Colorado Springs, international panel moderator (2024) and invited speaker (2023) · ICESCO–NSU international symposium · Indo-Pacific Space and Earth Conference, Perth (2023) · Forward Research & Innovation Summit, San Juan (2023).

Education and Credentials

MSc, Physics, Summa Cum Laude, University of Memphis · BSc, Mechanical Engineering, Magna Cum Laude, University of Memphis · Strategic Innovation Management Certificate, Vanderbilt University · Six U.S. patents in advanced retinal imaging, wavefront reconstruction, and laser vision correction; peer-reviewed publications and 30+ conference papers

See CV for more detail.