Former NASA Associate Administrator Bob Cabana to Serve as Senior Advisor to IBX

Photo Courtesy of NASA

[Rockville, MD, April 1, 2024] – IBX, an innovation and investment firm revolutionizing the space and energy sectors, is proud to announce that Robert D. Cabana, a former NASA Associate Administrator, and distinguished astronaut, will join the company as Senior Advisor effective April 1. In his new capacity, Cabana will leverage his wealth of experience in leadership, aerospace, and innovation to advise the IBX portfolio companies’ and provide strategic insights to Dr. Kam Ghaffarian founder and chairman of X-Energy, Intuitive Machines, Axiom Space, Quantum Space, and various other companies.

"We are thrilled to welcome Bob Cabana to the IBX family," said Ghaffarian, Founder and CEO of IBX. "His unparalleled experience in innovation, team leadership, and technical expertise will continue to drive the advancement of the commercial space industry and propel technological boundaries for the benefit of humanity. Bob's leadership at NASA was pivotal in managing diverse operations and forging key public-private partnerships, ushering in a new era of opportunity. We are thankful to have his invaluable insights and leadership on our team."

Prior to joining IBX, Cabana held the esteemed position of NASA's Associate Administrator, the agency's third-highest executive role and its highest-ranking civil servant. In this capacity, he served as a trusted advisor to NASA Administrator Bill Nelson and Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy, providing strategic guidance and leadership to the agency's 10 center directors and mission directorate associate administrators. Cabana's tenure saw him overseeing a workforce of over 18,000 employees.

Before his appointment as NASA Associate Administrator, Cabana distinguished himself as the Director of NASA's John F. Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where he oversaw all activities and facilities at the iconic spaceport.  A decorated veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, Cabana's journey into space began in 1985 when he was selected as an astronaut candidate. Over the course of his illustrious career, he embarked on four spaceflights, accumulating 38 days in space and serving as both a pilot and mission commander. Cabana's achievements have earned him numerous accolades, including induction into the Astronaut Hall of Fame and recognition as an Associate Fellow in the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

"I'm truly excited to join Kam's innovative team at IBX, supporting the continued advancement of our nation's space program and pushing the boundaries of technology for a brighter future on Earth and beyond,” said Cabana.

ABOUT IBX:

IBX is an innovation and investment firm spearheading advancements in space, technology, and energy to elevate humanity and expand human knowledge. Founded by visionary entrepreneur and engineer Kam Ghaffarian, IBX pioneers investment strategies that reshape business landscapes, incubate innovative concepts, and foster future economies. IBX supports the transformative companies founded by Ghaffarian, such as X-energy, Intuitive Machines, Axiom Space, and Quantum Space, as well as various pioneering ventures and charitable causes.

 

MEDIA CONTACT:

Bettina Inclan, bettina@ibx-llc.com

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HOUSTON CHRONICLE: 'What's your passion?' An entrepreneur's question leads to space enterprises

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Houston Chronicle, 9/6/2021

Kam Ghaffarian is known to ask a specific question: What’s your passion? And if he likes the answer — even if it’s as bold as building a commercial space station — he just might provide a financial and motivational oomph.

“For me even, it was so bold. It was like, wow, we’re going to go build the first private commercial space station,” Ghaffarian said. “But then I said, ‘Let’s go do it.’ Because I believe in doing bold, courageous stuff.”

His simple question has led to the creation of two ambitious Houston companies. Axiom Space is developing the commercial space station, and Intuitive Machines is building a lunar lander.

FULL STORY

Former NASA Acting Administrator Steve Jurczyk joins IBX as Executive Vice President of Space Programs   

Photo: Courtesy of NASA

Photo: Courtesy of NASA

IBX, an innovation and investment firm revolutionizing the space and energy sectors, announced today the addition of Steve Jurczyk as Executive Vice President of Space Programs. Jurczyk, who recently served as NASA's Acting Administrator after a 33-year career at the U.S. space agency, will add his technical and leadership expertise to the IBX team, expanding efforts to explore market opportunities in space, technology, and energy to positively impact the world. 

"We are delighted Steve Jurczyk is joining the IBX team, bringing a wealth of knowledge and his highly valued perspective about the aerospace industry to our strategic growth efforts of building the next-generation commercial space economy," said Kam Ghaffarian, Founder and CEO of IBX. "Steve's focus on innovation and leading breakthrough teams at NASA and across the country helped open the door to this new era in space exploration. We are lucky to have him on our IBX team." 

In his new role, Jurczyk will advise space initiatives across all IBX affiliated companies, supporting efforts from space hardware to space nuclear. He will also help expand IBX's work as an innovation incubator, supporting opportunities for market growth in the commercial space landscape.  

IBX is led by Ghaffarian, whose mission to advance the state of humanity and human knowledge has led him to create groundbreaking companies and charities. Ghaffarian has co-founded and is the Executive Chairman of several ventures, including: Axiom Space, advancing the commercial utilization of space and building and operating the first commercial space station; Intuitive Machines, the premier provider of space services and technologies, which will send the first American spacecraft to the surface of the Moon since the Apollo program, and X-energy, a nuclear reactor and fuel design company building the world’s first commercial-scale advanced nuclear reactor and fuel facility.

“I’m excited to join IBX and Ghaffarian's innovative team and continue my commitment to strengthening this new era in space exploration," said Jurczyk, whose appointment takes effect Monday, August 9, 2021. 

During his three decades at NASA, Steve Jurczyk served in every major leadership role and obtained the highest honors available at the agency. He was appointed Acting Administrator (January – May 2021), leading the agency's workforce through a time of transition. As Associate Administrator, he was NASA's highest-ranking civil servant supervising all center directors and ensuring the success of agency programs. As Associate Administrator of the Space Technology Mission Directorate, he formulated and executed the agency's space technology programs, focusing on developing and demonstrating transformative technologies for human and robotic exploration of the solar system in partnership with industry and academia. He was also a Center Director, leading the team at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. Jurczyk began his NASA career in 1988 at Langley in the Electronic Systems Branch as a design, integration, and test engineer developing several space-based Earth remote sensing systems. He worked his way up through the center's ranks by contributing to a broad range of research, technology, and engineering disciplines in all NASA mission areas.

Jurczyk has received several awards during his NASA career, including two Outstanding Leadership Medals, the Distinguished Service Medal, the Presidential Rank Award for Meritorious Executive in 2006, and the Presidential Rank Award for Distinguished Executive in 2016 -- the highest honors attainable for federal government leadership.


ABOUT IBX:

 IBX is an innovation and investment firm exploring new frontiers in space, technology, and energy to push human potential and positively impact the world. IBX was founded by Kam Ghaffarian, a visionary entrepreneur and engineer whose mission to advance the state of humanity and human knowledge has led him to create companies transforming the space and energy sectors. He is the CEO of IBX, the co-founder and Executive Chairman of X-energy, Intuitive Machines, and Axiom Space, and supports several other innovative companies and charities.

 

MEDIA CONTACT:

Bettina Inclan, bettina@ibx-llc.com

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Major Milestones Surpassed in Establishing 4G LTE on the Moon

via Intuitive Machines, July 22, 2021

Working with NASA, Intuitive Machines, Nokia, and Lunar Outpost are building, integrating, and demonstrating the first ever cellular network demonstration on the Moon.

The mission, IM-2, will land as soon as December 2022. Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C lunar lander will deliver Nokia’s LTE/4G communications system to the Moon’s South Pole. Nova-C will deploy Lunar Outpost’s M1 Mobile Autonomous Prospecting Platform (MAPP) rover, equipped with 4G/LTE communication user equipment, and provide a wireless communications link on the lunar surface between the rover and Nova-C.

FULL STORY


Intuitive Machines and NASA Finalize Contract for Extreme Lunar Mobility Spacecraft

via Intuitive Machines, July 21, 2021

Intuitive Machines is building NASA a mini extreme mobility lunar vehicle. Micro-Nova will hop around the Moon’s surface and take the first-ever pictures inside craters on the lunar south pole.

On July 16, 2021, NASA and Intuitive Machines finalized a $41.6 million Tipping Point contract to develop, fly, and operate a deployable “hopper lander” on the Moon. For this mission design, Micro-Nova can carry a 1-kilogram payload of more than 2.5 kilometers to access lunar craters and enable high-resolution surveying of the lunar surface under the flight path.

FULL STORY

CNET: Nuclear power is clean and safe. Why aren’t we using more of it?

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CNET, July 5, 2021.

“Nuclear energy is far safer than its reputation implies. It's also clean and reliable -- yet power plants are being phased out around the world.”

…X-Energy, one of several companies building safer and less expensive "Gen IV" nuclear reactors, hopes to reverse that trend. X-Energy's pebble-bed designs run on nuclear fuel encased in up to 220,000 billiard-sized graphite balls -- which the company says makes a meltdown physically impossible….”

FULL STORY

XPRIZE: SPACE, THE NEXT EPISODE

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X-PRIZE, 06/18/2021

…Dr Kam Ghaffarian, world-leading space expert and founder of IBX and Axiom Space, believes our expansion into space is part of our DNA. “Us humans are explorers,” he explains. “Generally speaking, I think that we like to know what's going on and where things are. The universe is so huge, and we're just such a small dot. So just getting to know what else is out there, not only within our solar system, but beyond our galaxy, it's just part of our human inclination.”

Beyond exploration, creating a new economy will be important, he adds: “Manufacturing, for example, and 3D printing, and biological research – there are many areas that can help us on our planet. We can look at what the International Space Station has been able to do in Earth science: research into infectious diseases, medical specialties, brain research, biotechnology, and chemistry have all been furthered by our expansion into space.” Plus, there are the predictions that we can make from space he points out: “satellites that currently are in orbit that help us with weather forecasts, climate, all of these things are the benefits of space exploration.” 

FULL STORY

IBX Announces Bettina Inclan as Chief Communications Officer

Courtesy of NASA

Courtesy of NASA

IBX Announces Bettina Inclán as Chief Communications Officer

IBX, an innovation and investment firm, announced that Bettina Inclán has joined the company as Chief Communications Officer. Inclán, who most recently served as NASA’s Associate Administrator for Communications, brings 20 years of experience in strategic communications, branding, and external relations.

“I am excited to add Bettina to the IBX team where her leadership experience and communications expertise will play a vital role as we accelerate strategic growth opportunities in the frontlines of space, technology, and energy,” said Kam Ghaffarian, CEO and President of IBX.

Dr. Ghaffarian, an engineer, visionary business leader, and impact investor, is CEO of IBX and the co-founder and Chairman of Axiom Space, Intuitive Machines, and X-energy, in addition to leading other businesses and philanthropies.

In her role as IBX’s Chief Communications Officer, Inclán will help with overall communications, marketing, and branding efforts for IBX and Mr. Ghaffarian’s affiliated organizations and lines of business.

About Bettina Inclán:

At NASA, Inclán served as the space agency’s top communications executive and was responsible for external and internal communications, including public affairs, digital and video content, NASA TV, and executing the agency’s robust public outreach efforts. During her tenure, the team won numerous awards, including two Emmy’s, introduced the world to the Artemis Program, told the story of Launch America returning human spaceflight to US soil, reintroduced the NASA worm, and celebrated the 50th anniversaries of the Apollo 11 Moon landing and Earth Day. In 2021, Inclán was awarded NASA's Outstanding Leadership Medal in recognition for her leadership in coordinating an increase in communications, expanding internal communications, and strengthening interagency coordination efforts. Before joining NASA, Bettina was the CEO of her own consulting business. Her experience also includes serving as Senior Vice President at a global public relations firm, co-hosting a radio show on SiriusXM, working in Congress, and serving as a political strategist and communications consultant for over 15 years.

 

ABOUT IBX:

IBX is an innovation and investment firm exploring new frontiers in space, technology, and energy to push human potential and positively impact the world. 

IBX was founded by Dr. Kam Ghaffarian, a visionary entrepreneur and engineer whose mission to advance the state of humanity and human knowledge has led him to create companies transforming the space and energy sectors. He is the CEO of IBX, the co-founder and Executive Chairman of X-energy, Intuitive Machines, and Axiom Space, and supports several other innovative companies and charities.

Born with an entrepreneurial spirit, Dr. Ghaffarian co-founded his first business, SGT, in 1994, growing it to become the second-largest engineering service provider to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) with annual revenues of over half a billion dollars.

Today, he is leveraging his 35+ years of experience in innovation and building world-class teams with groundbreaking deep-tech companies expanding the commercial space economy, creating clean energy solutions, putting Dr. Ghaffarian at the forefront of several next-generation technologies making a positive impact on the world.

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Intuitive Machines to Deploy and Operate First Lunar Communication Satellite in 2022

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via Intuitive Machines, June 21, 2021

Communication between Earth and the Moon is a monumental 239,000-mile task, and Intuitive Machines (IM) is leading the way in pioneering this cislunar economic opportunity. IM selected a York Space Systems S-CLASS satellite with a lunar communications payload to launch on its upcoming IM-2 lunar South Pole mission scheduled for late 2022. The satellite will orbit the Moon to provide communications like a satellite that orbits Earth.

"Establishing the first node in a lunar communication and navigation network is the key to unlocking the next economic frontier, the cislunar economy," said IM President and CEO Steve Altemus.

FULL STORY

CNBC: Axiom Space expands SpaceX private crew launch deal, with four total missions to the space station

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CNBC, 6/2/2021

Private spaceflight specialist Axiom Space on Wednesday announced a deal with SpaceX that added three more crewed flights to the International Space Station, bringing its total planned missions through Elon Musk’s company to four.

“We are beyond excited to build upon our partnership with Axiom to help make human spaceflight more accessible for more people,” SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell said in a statement. “A new era in human spaceflight is here.”

Houston-based Axiom had previously announced its Ax-1 mission would launch with SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon capsule, and now the Ax-2, Ax-3 and Ax-4 missions will as well.

Ax-1 is currently scheduled to launch in January 2022.

FULL STORY

PRESS RELEASE: Axiom Space signs blockbuster deal with SpaceX to fly three additional Axiom private crew missions to ISS through 2023

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AXIOM SPACE PRESS RELEASE, 6/2/2021

Axiom Space revealed Wednesday that it has finalized a deal with SpaceX for three additional Dragon flights, on which Axiom would fly its proposed private crews on its next three fully commercial missions to the International Space Station. The landmark agreement between the industry leaders in human spaceflight as well as launch and orbital services, respectively, ensures the nascent commercial human spaceflight market’s growth will subsist.

“We are beyond excited to build upon our partnership with Axiom to help make human spaceflight more accessible for more people,” said SpaceX President & COO Gwynne Shotwell. “A new era in human spaceflight is here.”

Developed by SpaceX as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew program, the Dragon spacecraft has already flown three successful human spaceflight missions to the ISS. Those flights – Demo-2, Crew-1, and Crew-2 – were NASA missions carrying government astronauts from the ISS partner agencies.

In a validation of NASA’s strategy to support commercial development of human spaceflight capability in hopes of fostering a marketplace, Axiom’s planned missions would mark the first private crews to make the same trip.

FULL STORY

CNBC: Axiom Space lines up second private flight to the ISS, led by record-holding astronaut Peggy Whitson

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CNBC, 5/25/2021

Axiom Space on Tuesday announced that retired NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson and auto racer John Shoffner will lead the company’s second private spaceflight to the International Space Station, tentatively scheduled for the second half of 2022.

The pair will fly Axiom’s Ax-2 mission for an eight-day stay on the ISS, with Whitson as the commander and Shoffner as the pilot.

FULL STORY

TECHCRUNCH: Discovery’s new reality show ‘Who Wants to Be an Astronaut?’ will pick one winner to go to space

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TECHCRUNCH, 5/18/2021

Discovery has ordered a new reality show, to air in 2022, which will be an eight-episode competition series where competitors will vie for a chance to take a trip to the International Space Station on a commercial Axiom Space mission. The winner will be a crew member for AX-2, the second mission from Axiom to transport a fully private group of space travelers to the ISS following AX-1, which is set to take place as early as next January.

FULL STORY

Curious Space Podcast: NASA’s Apollo moon program wasn’t sustainable, but with commercial space, Artemis can be

CLICKORLANDO.COM/ CURIOUS PODCAST, 5/10/2021

Intuitive Machines prepares to launch robotic moon mission from Florida in November

…Houston-based Intuitive Machines is one of those private space companies that will help pave the way for NASA to return humans to the moon by first sending robotic missions.

Intuitive Machines co-founder Tim Crain joined the show to talk about the company’s robotic moon lander Nova-C launching to the moon with NASA science this fall, under the agency’s commercial lunar payload services program, or CLIPS.

FULL STORY

YAHOO FINANCE: NASA and Axiom Space's first private ISS mission could happen as soon as January

YAHOO FINANCE, 5/10/2021

NASA and Axiom Space have agreed to take civilians to the ISS. Axiom Mission 1 will launch from Kennedy Space Center in Florida "no earlier than January 2022," according to NASA. The four astronauts, who will travel on a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, are scheduled to spend eight days aboard the ISS. They'll bring back scientific samples for NASA that have to be kept in cold storage.

FULL STORY

SUPERCLUSTER: A Nuclear Energy Company Sets Its Sights on Deep Space

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SUPERCLUSTER, 5/4/2021:
For much of the past century, nuclear energy and space exploration were the emblems of the future. These technologies offered a path to liberation from energy scarcity and gravity, and together they promised to open up the solar system for human exploration.

More than a decade before there were bootprints on the moon, NASA recognized the enormous potential for nuclear energy in spaceflight. Despite some early promising tests, NASA’s dream of a nuclear-powered Mars rocket never came to pass. But now, more than half a century later, a startup in Maryland is bringing the concept to life. 

X-energy was founded in 2009 by Kam Ghaffarian, a deep-tech entrepreneur behind companies like Axiom, which is building the world’s first commercial space station, and Intuitive Machines, which could be the first to place a commercial lander on the moon. In a previous life, Ghaffarian was the cofounder of SGT, which became one of NASA’s largest services providers and endowed him with a fortune that he used to advance game-changing technologies on and off the planet.

When Ghaffarian founded X-energy he tasked the company with designing an advanced nuclear reactor that was cheaper and safer than any nuclear reactor in history…

FULL STORY

ARS TECHNICA: For lunar cargo delivery, NASA accepts risk in return for low prices

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ARS TECHNICA, 5/3/2021

Standing on a runway in southeast Houston, Tim Crain had to raise his voice to be heard over the roar of a supersonic jet taking off in the distance.

The present and future have come together at the Houston Spaceport. On an almost daily basis, current NASA astronauts take T-38s out for flights to hone their flying skills or to jet across the country for mission training. A few hundred meters away from the main runway, Intuitive Machines is testing rocket engines to support lunar landings.

Crain is the chief technology officer for Houston-based Intuitive Machines, which is building landers to take cargo to the lunar surface. Intuitive Machines has a mixture of NASA and commercial contracts and has emerged as one of a new generation of mostly small companies seeking to extend the sphere of economic activity to the lunar surface.

FULL STORY

CNBC: Early investor on Axiom Space’s project to create a commercial space station

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CNBC, 4/23/2021

SpaceX launched another group of astronauts for NASA early on Friday morning, with Elon Musk’s company now having sent 10 astronauts to space in under a year. Lisa Rich is founder and managing partner of Hemisphere Ventures and was an early investor in Axiom Space, which is partnering with SpaceX on a commercial space station. She joined “Squawk Box” on Friday to discuss the project.

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