Ian Christensen

Ian Christensen is the Senior Director, Private Sector Programs at the Secure World Foundation. He is responsible for leading SWF’s engagement activities with the commercial space industry, where his activities focus on policy and governance topics in support of the development of private sector space capabilities: including topics such as space debris mitigation, norms of behavior for responsible space operations, and space situational awareness policy.

Ian was a member of the Hague International Space Resources Governance Working Group, where he chaired the Group’s Socioeconomic Panel. He also served as a member of the Secretariat for the Consortium for Execution of Rendezvous and Servicing Operations (CONFERS), an industry group developing best practices and standards for commercial satellite servicing. Mr. Christensen also is currently a member of the Global Expert Group on Sustainable Lunar Activities (GEGSLA). He currently serves as a member of the Federal Communications Commission World Radiocommunication Conference Advisory Committee for WRC-27.

Prior to joining SWF, Ian worked at leading space-sector consulting firms Futron Corporation and Avascent.  Prior to Futron, Ian was a research assistant at the Space Policy Institute at George Washington University, a Policy Fellow at the National Academies of Science Committee on Science, Engineering and Public Policy, and a research assistant at the University of Nebraska Public Policy Center.

Ian holds a Master of Arts (M.A.) in international science and technology with a focus on space policy from the George Washington University Elliott School for International Affairs.  He holds dual Bachelor’s of Science (B.S.) degrees in political science and biochemistry from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He also completed the International Space University (ISU) 2007 Space Studies Program in Beijing, China.