Our Philosophy
Infostellar is made up of committed and talented individuals who want to bring real change to the Space industry. We’re fast-paced and flexible and we’re looking for people who can flourish in a start-up environment, regardless of what they were doing before.
Who we are
We're a diverse group with space, engineering, and startup backgrounds, united by an ambition to build something amazing.
Why we do it
We're excited by the limitless potential of the space industry, and we believe that we can make it better, more accessible, and more impactful for everyone.
Leadership Team
Co-Founder/CEO
Naomi Kurahara
Naomi has over a decade of experience in the Space industry. Naomi holds a PhD in Electrical Engineering from the Kyushu Institute of Technology, where she conducted ion engine and space plasma environment research with JAXA. Naomi also worked as a Researcher and Satellite Ground Systems Engineer before going on to found Infostellar in 2016.
Co-Founder/Board Member
Kazuo Ishigame
Kaz founded and managed an online space business publication called Astropreneur, where he raised local awareness of domestic space business. He also served as the COO of 7-bites, where he directed the development of an anime goods C2C marketplace app. During that time, he also led a number of teams ranging from customer support to business development, resulting in the Animate Group purchasing the service in 2013.
Co-Founder/Board Member
Toshio Totsuka
Toshi has over 40 years of experience in the international distribution and communication equipment manufacturing industry. Since 2014, he has been the appointed CEO of AOR Co., Ltd., mainly involved in multiple national projects for the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, the National Police Agency, and the Japan Coast Guard. He was also involved in the design work for a radio monitoring system for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics.
Board Member/Airbus Ventures Partner
Lewis Pinault
With a PhD in International Law and Planetary Geophysics from the University of Hawaii, a B.Sc. in Science from MIT and an MS in Economics from LSE, Lewis started his career as an analyst and management consultant. He led the design of incubators and innovation centers such as Digital Catapult, EDS, and Shell for the UK government and served as an advisor to the Satellite Applications Catapult. In 2015, he became a partner in charge of Japan and Asia at Airbus Ventures and in 2017 he led Infostellar''s Series A round of funding and was appointed as an independent director.
CSO
Tom Pirrone
Tom has over 38 years of operations experience in the Space Industry. He was one of the founders of Universal Space Network, the world’s first Ground Station as a Service (GSaaS) provider, now an operating division of the Swedish Space Corporation. Tom’s expertise in Strategic Development and global BD drives Infostellar’s achievements in sales growth and market development.
CFO
Noriyuki Okada
At Ernst & Young ShinNihon LLC, Noriyuki was involved in legal audits of NASDAQ-listed companies, IPO preparation, and consulting for establishing internal controls. After independence, he helped startups raise funds and build teams, and in 2011, he joined a classifieds site company as a founding member and worked mainly as a corporate department manager. After returning to Ernst & Young ShinNihon LLC, Noriyuki planned and managed consulting services for startups and carve-out programs for large companies.
CTO
Steve Montgomery
Steve is a Ground Station as a Service industry veteran with over 30 years of experience building and operating ground stations all over the world. He was a leader in the Universal Space Network team that was acquired by Swedish Space Corporation and remained with the company until joining Infostellar.
Director of Regulatory Affairs
Andy Fry
Andy has over 30 years of Regulatory, Government Affairs and Business Development experience in the communications industry. He enables Infostellar to provide a wide range of regulatory and licensing support services, and to facilitate onboarding clients and partners to StellarStation.
Director of Business Development
Michael Loweth
Michael has over 15 years of experience in business development, space engineering, and project management. His last job saw him help to double the size of Oxford Space Systems, a VC backed, early stage space tech business. Early in his career he was the battery technical manager on ESA’s GAIA, BepiColombo, and Solar Orbiter missions. He has also been a member of staff and visiting lecturer at the International Space University, and has experience at NASA, the UK MoD and 10+ years at ABSL Space Products.
Our values
Build trust
Conduct yourself so that other members can rely on you to perform. Hold your work to a high standard.
Rethink and remake
Always ask "why?" Question existing frameworks and take steps to improve them.
Never stop learning
Be confident in your skills, but retain a beginner's mind. Always seek to improve yourself both technically and personally.
Foster respect
Treat everyone, both inside and outside of the company, with integrity and sensitivity.
Team's experience
Space and telecommunications
Our small team boasts over 80 years of combined experience in the space industry, from the nuts and bolts of RF engineering to the transnational impact of regulatory affairs and government policy.
Engineering
With resumes spanning MongoDB, Google, Kymeta, Microsoft and beyond, our team possesses both breadth and depth of engineering experience.
International partnerships
Our team has professional experience spanning over 23 countries. Whether it's navigating regulatory regimes or cultural nuances, we are well equipped to tackle the complexities of an inherently global industry.
