NASA Langley Engineer Recognized for Significant Contributions to Future Space Economy

More than 200 members of the aerospace community gathered in Los Angeles, CA, June 4-5, for the Consortium for Space Mobility and ISAM Capabilities’ (COSMIC) second annual membership meeting — a.k.a. Convergence — an event celebrating a unified In-Space Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing (ISAM) strategy. This nationwide coalition of government, industry, and academic partners works to make complex in-space operations, like the repairing satellites or building new structures in orbit, a routine part of the future space economy.

The consortium held its first awards ceremony during Convergence, and presented their inaugural COSMIC Leader Award to John Mulvaney, aerospace engineer with the Systems Analysis and Concepts Directorate (SACD) at NASA’s Langley Research Center. According to COSMIC, the criterion for this honor is “someone who has taken the lead and made significant contributions to one or more products.”  

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“It was tricky to figure out which award to give John because his contributions matched the criteria for multiple awards, all of which describe what John brings to COSMIC.“

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Max Spolaor and Alec Cavaciuti, co-leads of the Missions and Ecosystems Focus Area within COSMIC, nominated Mulvaney for “leading the very successful and very work-intensive High Value Use Case and Value Propositions Integrated Product Team (IPT)” along with his efforts to bring collaboration and content into the group. The IPT is tasked with identifying potential benefits of innovative technologies and capabilities for consideration and investment in by space-economy stakeholders, a critical effort for the future of ISAM.

“It was tricky to figure out which award to give John because his contributions matched the criteria for multiple awards, all of which describe what John brings to COSMIC,” said Greg Richardson, COSMIC’S executive director, referring to the COSMIC Integrator, Spirit of COSMIC, and Foundation for the Future awards.

Dale Arney is the senior team lead of SACD’s Space Mission Analysis Branch’s technology portfolio, which includes supporting the ISAM community and COSMIC, and he’s worked with Mulvaney since 2021. “John has really been NASA’s voice in creating the COSMIC products this year,” he said. “Without his leadership and contribution, COSMIC would not be where they are today.”