William R. Schmidt - December 29, 1948 - April 28, 2010

William R. Schmidt, XTAR, LLC Vice President, Government Services, died suddenly April 28 of a heart attack. He had been in his position for three years, with responsibility for the business development, sales, and marketing of XTAR’s unique X-band services to the civil and military sectors of the U.S. government.

“Bill was an essential member of the company’s senior management team,” said Denis Curtin, XTAR COO. “He was a personal friend as well as a trusted colleague and will be sorely missed by us all.”

Bill joined XTAR from ARTEL Inc., where he served as Director, Global Solutions. Prior to joining ARTEL, Bill applied his expertise in management, strategic planning and business development to multiple clients as a Principal with Turner Consulting Services. Previously, he moved his career into telecommunications, information technology and information security by joining Data Systems Analysts, Inc., as Director of Business Development, Federal Sector.

Bill began his career in aerospace and defense with the Link Division of Singer. He continued in positions of increasing management responsibility, working for other large multi-billion dollar multinationals such as Honeywell and Figgie International. While at Honeywell, he led the team that won the largest Navy simulator procurement of $153 million.

Bill served three years as a U.S. Army Air Crewman after graduating from the University of Maryland with a BS in market management and operations research.

Bill will be remembered by his XTAR friends and colleagues as a man who lived life large. He was a devoted husband, friend and uncle who passionately supported many nephews and nieces, three of whom serve in the U.S. Armed Forces. He loved fine dining, race cars, annual skiing trips to Whistler in Canada with family and friends, and travel. His most recent travel exploit was a London to New York voyage on the venerable Queen Mary with his wife Candyce and close friends. Bill’s passing has left a void in the hearts of all of the family, friends and colleagues that he has left behind.

Philip Harlow - President and Chief Operating Officer

Philip Harlow was appointed President and Chief Operating Officer of XTAR, LLC June 1, 2010. He is responsible for the growth and strategic direction of XTAR’s Government business, overseeing the management, marketing and technical aspects of the company.

Previously, Mr. Harlow worked as Chief Technology Officer for CapRock Communications (since acquired by Harris Corp). In this role, Mr. Harlow was responsible for all aspects of engineering, IT, infrastructure development, new product management and strategic planning.

Prior to CapRock, Mr. Harlow was Vice President of Engineering and Technology at DRS Technical Services, provider of satellite, terrestrial and enterprise-wide network communications services. He joined DRS in 2006 from Intelsat General where he served as Vice President of Engineering following the acquisition of PanAmSat.

Prior to joining PanAmSat/G2, Mr. Harlow was instrumental in the PanAmSat acquisition and integration of Esatel Communications, where he served as Vice President for Business Development. Mr. Harlow also worked at Loral Orion as Director for Sales Engineering supporting the North America Sales Group.

Mr. Harlow graduated from the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, United Kingdom, and holds an honors degree in Electronic Systems Engineering from the Royal Military College of Science. He also has a Masters degree in Systems Engineering from The George Washington University.

Dr. Denis Curtin - Member of the Board of Directors

Dr. Curtin was instrumental in the design and development of the world's first commercially owned and operated X-band satellite fleet from its founding in 2001, and also in forming the unique private partnership between XTAR and HISDESAT Servicios. Estratégicos, S.A. He was appointed Chief Operating Officer in 2003, overseeing the construction and launch of the two XTAR satellites and terrestrial infrastructure, and leading the technical, business and marketing operations of the company until his retirement in June 2010.

Before being asked to head up the XTAR project, Dr. Curtin served as Senior Vice President, Engineering and Operations for Loral ORION and then as Executive Vice President of Loral CyberStar Broadband Systems. He was responsible for the technical design of the ORION satellites and was instrumental in the formation of the ORION partnership. Previously he held a series of leadership positions at COMSAT and COMSAT Laboratories eventually becoming Senior Director, Satellite Systems responsible for all of COMSAT's satellite engineering. His security clearance is Secret.

Dr. Curtin has an M.S. in Physics and a PhD in Mechanical Engineering. He is a Fellow of the American Institutes of Astronautics and Aeronautics (AIAA) and a Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). He was inducted into the Society of Satellite Professionals International (SSPI) Hall of Fame in 2009. In 2006 he was named the recipient of the AIAA Aerospace Communications Award, presented for outstanding contributions in the field of aerospace communications. He has published extensively in satellite technology and holds a patent on an infrared transparent solar cell.

Cor Westerhoff - Vice President, Operations and Programs

Mr. Westerhoff has been on XTAR's senior management team since the Company's inception. As Vice President, Operations and Programs, his responsibilities encompass the development, launch and ongoing operations of the two-payload XTAR system. Additionally, he is part of the XTAR senior management team responsible for ongoing business development, system expansion and customer requirements.

Prior to XTAR, Mr. Westerhoff was head of government services for Space Systems/Loral where he played a key role in the conceptual and technology development of the innovative commercial X-band system.

Previously, Mr. Westerhoff held several senior management positions with Rockwell International where he led a number of large programs developing revolutionary communications architectures and technologies.

A graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Mr. Westerhoff served in the U.S. Army retiring after twenty years. Mr. Westerhoff received a Masters Degree from the University of Southern California and graduated from the Army Command and General Staff College and the Defense Systems Management College. His security clearance is Top Secret.

Gary Chesney - Executive Director, Products and Services

Gary W. Chesney is Executive Director, Products and Services, for XTAR. He is responsible for marketing XTAR to U.S. Government customers, with primary focus on the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security, and State, as well as the Intelligence Community.

Prior to joining the XTAR team, Mr. Chesney was Executive Director, Strategic Issues at Space Systems/Loral. He was responsible for investigating, assessing and recommending solutions to issues, both technical and political, impacting the success of Loral's communications satellite manufacturing business.

Mr. Chesney retired from the U.S. Air Force as a Lieutenant Colonel after a career focused on military space systems.

Mr. Chesney graduated from the University of Illinois with both Bachelor's and Master's Degrees in Electrical Engineering. He has completed the course work for a Ph.D. Degree in Electrical Engineering at the University of Southern California. His security clearance is Top Secret.

Robert McDade - Vice President & Chief Financial Officer

As Vice President & Chief Financial Officer, Mr. McDade is responsible for XTAR's financial management and direction. This includes preparing and presenting financial and other key business results, and developing annual and long-term strategic plans for the company's executive management team and partners.

Prior to XTAR, Mr. McDade was Corporate Manager for Loral Space & Communications' Business Review operations. He played a key role in linking each business division with the corporate management, providing recommendations on future operations for each division.

Previously, Mr. McDade held several management positions in the technology and manufacturing sectors where he applied his expertise to financial reporting and analysis, strategic planning, budgeting and project management.

Mr. McDade graduated from the State University of New York College at Old Westbury with a Bachelor's degree in Business Management. He has also begun coursework for an MBA at Long Island University, C.W. Post.