Dr. William Gaubatz

Dr. Gaubatz is a pioneer and leader in program and concept developments that have impacted national programs and policies, leading the way to today’s Personal Spaceflight Industry. At McDonnell Douglas, he originated and managed the development of the Delta Clipper reusable spaceplane system concept. He was responsible for the Delta Clipper Experimental programs (DC-X and DC-XA) that proved through flight that aircraft like operations could be routinely achieved for spaceplanes. His efforts and those of his team had major impacts on US space programs and policy and on initiating today's fledgling Personal Spaceflight industry. He was an originating founder of Universal Space Lines, Inc. where he was President of SpaceClipper International (SCI) with the long term goals of establishing an international network of spaceports and connecting Spaceway routes for routine, safe flights by the general public to and from and through space. At SCI he led studies for the SpaceClipper vertical take-off and landing (VTVL) commercial spaceplane. He fostered the concept for incremental development of the new reusable systems, starting with suborbital tourism and rocket racing to establish a market and a flight database that would support the development and certification for orbital and rapid point-to-point space transportation systems. He also led SpaceAvailable LLC, a company creating virtual space adventures for science centers, museums and theme parks. He contributed to pioneering efforts for investigating the physiological and psychological system requirements for public space travel and space tourism. He actively participated in early activities for the formation of the Southwest Regional Spaceport, leading to the creation of Spaceport America in New Mexico. He is presently a consultant for “new-space” activities and focusing on the development of the DC-X SpaceQuest exhibit at the New Mexico Museum of Space History, as a museum for “New Space”. He is Chairman of the Space Tourism Society, a charter member of the X-Prize Committee, founder of the annual International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight (ISPCS), Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), member of the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA), member of the Space Frontier Foundation, Honorary member of the Japanese Rocket Society (JRS), and was Chief Judge for the X PRIZE Space Projects Lunar Lander Challenge. He has authored numerous papers and articles, including the inaugural Ansett Lecture for the SafeSkies Conference, Australia and is an international speaker advocating the development of the new space transportation infrastructure, the Spaceways, to open the space frontier to people. Dr. Gaubatz attended Purdue University where he received his undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering and his graduate degrees in Engineering. His focus is on opening a Place called Space for the benefit and enjoyment of all people.