Jim Crisafulli and Joseph Pelton have collaborated for many years in the areas of space systems and communications. When working together on a project to aid aerospace industries in Hawaii, they decided to launch a new organization related to space policy, education, and safety. The result was the launching of the Alliance and to recruit other people to join this venture. Jim pursued joint undergraduate studies in Physics and Zoology at Harvey Mudd College and Pomona College in Claremont, California. Following a two-year assignment in the Peacecorps teaching in Fiji, he obtained a Master’s Degree in International Studies from Claremont Graduate School, and then participated as an international research fellow with the East-West Center in Honolulu. He served as founder and Director of the State of Hawaii’s Office of Aerospace Development – during which he established the Japan-U.S. Science, Technology & Space Applications Program (JUSTSAP). He next played a key role in the formation of the Pacific International Space Center for Exploration Systems (PISCES), and other Hawaii State programs to help advance robotic and human missions to the Moon, Mars and beyond. In recognition for this work on behalf of the State of Hawaii he received the Governor’s Award for Distinguished State Service as State Employee of the Year. Jim currently serves as President of ACES Worldwide.

As President of ACES Worldwide, Jim continues to work with municipal, state, and federal agencies, private corporations, and international organizations to promote public-private partnerships and multinational alliances to help reduce the costs, enhance the benefits, and accelerate timetables for future space missions

Kim Degnan works in the space industry, currently as the Senior Partner for Space Strategy at AdvancedTechnologies.Space.  Previously, she held executive management positions at Intelsat, Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Raytheon-Advanced Technologies, Pacific Satellite Inc., International Satellite Inc, and NTIA in the USG. She is well-known for her successful global business campaigns leading to measurable revenue growth. She often serves as a SME on advanced technology proposals for private space companies and the USG.

Kim is also an experienced orbit-spectrum engineer, well-versed in international satellite spectrum engineering and regulatory policy processes. She has worked on behalf of emerging nations at World Radio Conferences and has participated in the bilateral coordination of hundreds of ITU filings to secure national rights to orbit spectrum. She has published over 30 articles, many concerning the need for equitable allocation and global management of orbit spectrum.

She has Master’s Degrees in Public Policy and Electrical/Telecom Engineering, and is certified in Program Management (PMP), Proposal Strategy (APMP) and Competitive Assessment (SCIP). She is also an original Founder of Space & Satellite Professionals International.

She plays a key role in the development and growth of ACES Worldwide. As a Co-Chair of the Space Program Committee for the UN General Assembly’s annual Science Summit, she leads ACES Worldwide’s participation in high-profile panels of Space Experts about subjects like Planetary Defense, Satellites Achieving the SDGs, Safeguarding Space as a Global Commons, Mitigating Space Debris, and ACES Worldwide’s Space & Sustainability Compacts Initiatives. Many of the expert speakers participating in these discussions also sit on the ACES Worldwide Global Advisory Committee.

Dr. Marlène M. Losier is a legal expert in international law and a Global Advisor to ACES Worldwide. She played a key role in the early formation of the ACES Worldwide organization. She advises private and public clients around the world on international and national laws relating to culture and space policies affected by maritime, terrestrial and beyond Earth considerations often resulting from the succession of states in the post-colonial context. She advises on the United Nations treaty system and its auspices, counsels on bilateral and multilateral agreements and assists in developing corresponding domestic rules. Dr. Losier is an expert in complex matters of sovereign immunity and jurisdiction, where they conflict, when they are evoked in areas beyond national jurisdiction and specifically in respect to issues relating to title and proprietary rights, including with regard to the moral and ethical arguments concerning the rights of communities of origin and private individuals. Her academic background is in government and social anthropology and her legal practice is in international litigation, alternative disputes resolution and contractual matters. She is Principal of Losier & González, PLLC based in Washington, D.C.

Dr. Joseph N. Pelton is Chairman of the Alliance for Collaboration in the Exploration of Space (ACES Worldwide https://acesworldwide.org He and Jim Crisafulli had the original idea to found ACES Worldwide in 2021 while working together  on issues related to Hawaiian aerospace development. Dr. Pelton is also services Director of Academics and Research for the International Association for the Advancement of Space Safety (IAASS), chairman of IAASS Academic Committee, a member of its Executive Board and Senior Editor of the Journal of Space Safety Engineering. He is the Dean emeritus and former Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the International Space University with its main campus in Strasbourg, France. He is also the Director Emeritus of the Space and Advanced Communications Research Institute (SACRI) at George Washington University where he was also Director of the Accelerated M.S. Program in Computers and Telecommunications.  In earlier positions he was Director of Strategic Planning for Intelsat and held other management positions at Intelsat and Comsat. He also served as Professor and Director, Interdisciplinary Telecommunications Program at the University of Colorado-Boulder where he was also Director, Center for Advanced Research in Telecommunications  &Technology (CARTT). He is the award-winning author and editor of over 70 books and over 300 articles in the field of telecommunications and networking, space systems, future technologies, and urban planning. His book Global Talk won a Pulitzer Prize nomination and won the Eugene Emme Literature Award of the International Association of Astronautics. In July 2013 he received in the United Kingdom British Interplanetary Society International Award known as “The Arthur” in honor of Arthur C. Clarke. He also received the Arthur C. Clarke Foundation’s Lifetime Achievement award in 2001 and the IAASS “da Vinci Award” for lifetime achievement. Most recently he won the Guardian Award of the Lifeboat Foundation which was previously won by Bill Gates, El

Professor Madry is by academic training an anthropologist and archaeologist, but as a faculty member at the University of North Carolina and at Rutgers University become an internationally known expert in remote sensing, GPS, and GIS and has written a number of books on space systems, Earth Observation, and space applications and given lectures on these topics at many locations around the world. He has als  both led and conducted research projects around the world for over 35 years in these fields. This has included including various environmental and cultural resource issues which all focus around the complex and interrelated nature of the interaction between human civilizations and their environments over time. Professor Madry has a particular interest in the application of advanced space technologies for complex regional issues such as land use and human settlement patterns over time, including how societies respond and prepare for environmental change and natural disasters.