David Castiel
President and Chief Executive Officer

David Castiel formed Ellipso in 1991. Before his involvement with the Ellipso project, Dr. Castiel was Vice President of Marketing and Business Development at American Mobile Satellite Corporation. Prior to AMSC, he was Director of Marketing for Satellite Communications Products at Hughes Network Systems. He received his doctorate in Theoretical Solid State Physics, with high distinction, and his graduate business degree from the University of Paris, France.

Michael Taylor
Director

Mr. Taylor joined HarbourVest Partners. LLC. in 1998 after having been an investment banker with Morgan Stanley's Global Technology Group. Mr. Taylor advised numerous emerging growth technology and communications companies with their fundraising and merger and acquisition needs. Prior to that, he served eight years as a Lieutenant Commander with the United States Navy, where he was an electronic warfare attack pilot. Mr. Taylor received a Bachelor of Science degree, with distinction, from the United States Naval Academy and an MBA in finance from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He currently serves on the board of directors of KnowledgePlanet, AWS Convergence, Ellipso and edu.com. Mr. Taylor is actively involved with several other portfolio companies including: CCBN, Pangea, Epoch Internet, Daleen Technologies, IPHighway, InterTrade Systems and Kimo.com (acquired by Yahoo!).

Ambassador Richard Burt
Director

Former US Ambassador Richard R. Burt has had a long and distinguished career in the fields of finance and diplomacy, serving as the U.S Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany from 1985 to 1989. He is currently serving as Chairman, IEP Advisors, Inc., a financial/business advisory services firm, and as International Director of the government affairs firm Barbour, Griffith and Rogers.

In conjunction with his role at IEP Advisors, Ambassador Burt serves as Chairman of the Board of Weirton Steel, and is on the Boards of Hollinger International, Archer Daniels Midland and Homestake Mining. In addition, he is a member of the Textron Corporation's International Advisory Council.

Prior to the formation of IEP, Ambassador Burt was a partner with McKinsey & Company, specializing in international business strategy and telecommunications. He was the Chief Negotiator in the Strategic Arms Reduction Talks (START). Ambassador Burt graduated from Cornell University with his Bachelor's Degree in Government and received his Master's Degree in International Relations from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. Upon receiving his MA, he participated as an Advanced Research Fellow at the U.S. Naval War College.

Charles Bigot
Director

Charles A. Bigot joined the Board in December 1998 as Director. Mr. Bigot brings to Ellipso years of experience in space technology, management, and policy. As the former CEO of Arianespace, Mr. Bigot was instrumental in making Arianespace the world leader in commercial launch services after its establishment in 1982. Prior to Arianespace, Mr. Bigot was Director for Space Business at Aérospatiale, Director General at SERI-Renault Engineering, Director of Development at Air Inter, and served successively as Director of the Satellite Division, Director of Launch Vehicles Systems and Deputy Director of the Brétigny Space Center of CNES. Mr. Bigot was also Chief Engineer for Armament at the French Air Force’s Technical Services for Aeronautics and Ballistic Missiles. Mr. Bigot graduated from the École Polytechnique, the École National de l’Aeronautique, both of France, and the College of Aeronautics, in Cranfield (NATO) and holds a business degree from the Centre de Perfectionnement des Affaires in France. Mr. Bigot serves on the Board of several institutions of higher learning in France, and is a permanent member of the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA), the Académie National de l’Air et de l’Espace (ANAF) and a member of the French Parliamentary Group on Espace. Mr. Bigot was awarded the rank of Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur, Ordre National de Mérite, and the Médaille Vermeil of the CNES.

F. Whitten Peters
Director

Mr. Peters is a partner at the District of Columbia law firm of Williams & Connolly, where he specializes in complex civil and criminal litigation, as well as issues relating to national security and the Defense Department. He is also consulting for a number of defense companies. During the Clinton Administration, Mr. Peters was Secretary of the Air Force, Under Secretary and Acting Secretary of the Air Force, and Principal Deputy General Counsel of the Department of Defense. Mr. Peters has written and spoken on defense policy issues, acquisition reform, legal ethics and criminal law issues. He has also taught at Georgetown University Law School and the Columbus School of Law at Catholic University. Mr. Peters received a B.A. (Government, magna cum laude, from Harvard College, a M.Sc. (Economics), with distinction, from the London School of Economics and a J.D., magna cum laude, Harvard Law School. He is also a distinguished graduate of the US Navy Officer Candidate School.



Ambassador  Gerald D. Helman (retired)
Vice President, International and Governmental Affairs

Ambassador Gerald B. Helman retired from the United States Foreign Service in 1991, and joined Ellipso in late 1992. Prior to retirement, Amb. Helman served as US representative on the High Level Committee responsible for reorganizing the International Telecommunication Union. More recently, Amb. Helman served as Alternate US representative to the 1992 World Administrative Radio conference on spectrum allocation. Mr. Helman was United States Ambassador to the European Office of the United Nations from 1979 through 1981. Amb. Helman received his BA and JD from the University of Michigan.

Roger Blott
Senior Vice President, Business and Operations Group

Roger Blott joined Ellipso in 1999. Mr. Blott has been in the telecommunication business since 1989, with extensive experience of start-up businesses in emerging markets. Previously, Mr. Blott was CEO of African Telecommunications Inc (AfriTel), a start-up company seeking new licenses in sub-Saharan Africa to build out wireless telecommunications systems. He also held the position of President of Millicom, Asia, responsible for all activities in the African region which comprised about half of the Millicom group. He is a graduate in Electrical Engineering from Bristol University, England, and a UK qualified professional accountant.

Tracie Becker
General Counsel and Corporate Secretary

In August 2000 Ellipso appointed Tracie J. Becker to the position of General Counsel and Corporate Secretary. Ms. Becker is responsible for managing the company’s legal, regulatory, contractual and corporate matters in connection with the development and deployment of the Ellipso System.

Ms. Becker was graduated magna cum laude from the University of South Florida with a Bachelor of Arts degree in social sciences. She received her Juris Doctor degree cum laude from the University of Florida College of Law. Ms. Becker’s legal experience is expansive, encompassing international commercial contracts, taxation, corporate compliance programs, asset management, employment law, and intellectual property.

Prior to joining Ellipso, Ms. Becker was in-house counsel to United Technologies Corporation at several of its aerospace companies, including Sikorsky Aircraft, Pratt & Whitney, and International Aero Engines (an international joint venture of United Technologies, Rolls Royce, Fiat Avio, Japanese Aero Engines, and MTU). Ms. Becker also served as legal counsel to Airbus Industrie of North America.