Bulent Altan
Bulent Altan | |
---|---|
Born | Emin Bülent Altan June 5, 1977 University of Stanford (MS) |
Occupations | |
Engineering career | |
Significant design |
Bulent Altan is a Turkish-American aerospace executive and
Early life and education
Altan was born in
Career
SpaceX – Falcon 1 (2004-2009)
Upon the end of Bulent Altan's studies and while working on a
Space X – Falcon 9 & Dragon (2009-2014)
After initial successes and while working on
Space X – Starlink (2016-2017)
Altan joined SpaceX again in 2016 to work on the company's first satellites for the Starlink program. As VP of Satellite Mission Assurance he oversaw the development of the technology, the implementation of the business cases and markets until he eventually left SpaceX at the end of 2017.[8][9]
Mynaric (2017-2023)
In 2019, Altan's professional journey led him to laser communications manufacturer Mynaric.[8] Under Altan's leadership, Mynaric pivoted towards the United States as a key market,[10] opened production facilities in Germany[11] and the United States,[12] and established itself as a dominant supplier of optical communications terminals for the Space Development Agency's Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture, a large global satellite constellation.[13] In 2021, Altan led the company to and through its initial public offering in the United States (Nasdaq: MYNA)[14] before, in 2023, he resigned from his CEO position to become part of the supervisory board of Mynaric.[15]
Other roles and ventures
During his break from SpaceX between 2014 and 2016, Altan also worked for
Personal life
Bulent Altan identifies as a Turkish-American national though he calls Germany often his second home. Besides English and Turkish, he is also fluent in German and divides his time between Los Angeles and Munich.[2]
Trivia
Bulent Altan was initially reluctant to join SpaceX because of his wife's position at Google in the San Francisco Bay Area. Unbeknownst to Altan, Elon Musk reached out to Google's co-founder, Larry Page, to facilitate a relocation for his wife to Los Angeles near SpaceX's headquarter in Hawthorne, California. Musk then surprised Altan with this gesture during their interview, which convinced Altan to join SpaceX.[4][3]
Altan is an avid chef and regularly cooked his own interpretation of a “Turkish goulash” for the launch team at the Kwajalein Atoll during the initial launch campaign of the Falcon 1.[7] His recipe has been reproduced in Eric Berger's book “Lift Off”.[6]
See also
- SpaceX
- SpaceX Falcon 1
- SpaceX Faclon 9
- SpaceX Dragon
- SpaceX Starlink
- Avionics
- Elon Musk
- Hans Koenigsmann
- Tom Mueller
- Mynaric
- Laser communication in space
References
- ^ Göbel, Johannes (9 August 2021). "Lasers in space". deutschland.de.
- ^ a b c d e Köhn, Rüdiger (21 April 2021). "Laserkommunikation im Weltraum: Wer ist Mynaric-Chef Bulent Altan?". FAZ.NET (in German).
- ^ a b Hüfner, Daniel (15 December 2018). "Ehemaliger SpaceX-Chefingenieur Bülent Altan: Zehn Jahre unter Musk | t3n – digital pioneers". t3n Magazin (in German).
- ^ a b Berger, Eric. "The Secret to Elon Musk's Success". airmail.news.
- ^ Altan, Bulent. "Professional Experiences". Linkedin.com. self-published.
- ^ ISBN 978-0062979971.
- ^ ISBN 978-1398527492.
- ^ a b c Henry, Caleb (14 March 2019). "Former SpaceX Starlink exec joins German lasercomm startup". SpaceNews.
- ^ Stölzel, Thomas (29 July 2021). "Ex-Top-Ingenieur von SpaceX: Der Herr der Sternenflotte". www.wiwo.de (in German).
- ^ Henry, Caleb (14 September 2020). "German export ban blocks Mynaric's first laser terminal from launching in China". SpaceNews.
- ^ Erwin, Sandra (1 November 2021). "Northrop Grumman selects Mynaric as 'strategic supplier' of space laser communications". SpaceNews.
- ^ Jewett, Rachel (10 December 2020). "Mynaric Targets US Expansion to Take Laser Terminals into Widespread Use". Via Satellite.
- ^ Erwin, Sandra (21 June 2023). "Mynaric to supply laser communications for Raytheon's missile-tracking satellites". SpaceNews.
- ^ Sheetz, Michael (19 November 2021). "German space lasers company Mynaric CEO talks Nasdaq IPO, plans for growth". CNBC.
- ^ Jewett, Rachel (11 May 2023). "Bulent Altan to Step Down as Mynaric Co-CEO, Mustafa Veziroglu to Take the Helm". Via Satellite.