Executive Management

Stewart Bain founded NorthStar Earth & Space in 2018 and has led the Company from concept to a global provider of space-based Space Situational Awareness (SSA) and Space Domain Awareness (SDA) solutions. Mr. Bain brings more than 35 years of aerospace and international business development experience and previously held leadership positions at UBE Industries and EMS Technologies. Throughout his career, he has commercialized advanced aerospace technologies, built strategic partnerships across the global space industry, and helped drive the development of innovative space-based solutions. Mr. Bain holds an MBA from Smith School of Business at Queen’s University and a Master of Engineering in Aerospace Engineering from Carleton University.

Matthew Linton serves as Chief Legal Officer, Board Secretary and Head of Human Resources of NorthStar Earth and Space, where he oversees the Company’s legal, regulatory and governance functions. Mr. Linton brings extensive experience advising companies across the space and national security sectors on complex commercial, regulatory and governance matters, satellite missions and strategic government partnerships. Prior to joining NorthStar, Mr. Linton served as Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel at True Anomaly, a defense space technology company, where he helped shape the legal and regulatory framework supporting its national security and commercial space missions, while building and leading the legal function and supporting the company’s growth, including more than $400 million of capital raises. Previously, he served as Associate General Counsel for Space Operations at Lockheed Martin and as Of Counsel at Ogletree Deakins and Holland & Hart. Earlier in his career, Mr. Linton served as Assistant Regional Counsel for the U.S. Social Security Administration and as a Trial Attorney for the U.S. Department of Labor. He started his legal career with a judicial clerkship for Chief Justice Mary Mullarkey of the Colorado Supreme Court. Mr. Linton holds a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from the University of Colorado Boulder, magna cum laude, and a Juris Doctor from the University of Denver Sturm College of Law.

Peter Klimas serves as Chief Technology Officer at NorthStar Earth & Space, where he leads the Company’s engineering strategy and oversees the development, delivery, and operation of its space and infrastructure segments. Mr. Klimas brings nearly 20 years of aerospace engineering and technical leadership experience, having held senior engineering roles at Sammina, JDSU, and COM DEV Canada (now Honeywell Aerospace), where he supported the development of advanced optical communications systems, satellite infrastructure, and space technologies. Throughout his career, he has contributed to several high-profile space programs, including the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), HIAO-X, EarthCARE, and M3MSat, and has extensive expertise in systems engineering, satellite development, and aerospace program execution. Mr. Klimas holds a Master of Applied Science in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and a Bachelor of Aerospace Engineering, both from Carleton University.

Beth Michelson serves as Chief Financial Officer and President of NorthStar US, where she oversees the Company’s financial strategy and U.S. operations while supporting its growth as a publicly traded company. As a Co-Founding Partner at Cartesian Capital Group, Ms. Michelson has led investments across digital infrastructure, space technology, specialized manufacturing, telecommunications, and eCommerce. Ms. Michelson also served as Chief Financial Officer and Board Director of Cartesian Growth Corporation II, where she helped lead the company’s $200 million initial public offering and supported public company readiness. Prior to the formation of Cartesian, Ms. Michelson served with AIG Capital Partners beginning in 1999. Prior to joining AIG Capital Partners, she was an Associate at Wasserstein Perella Emerging Markets, focusing on private equity investments and structured products. Previously, she worked in financing for media and entertainment at Dresdner Bank AG, served in the U.S. House of Representatives, and was a financial journalist in Prague. Ms. Michelson is a member of the Global Advisory Board of Columbia Business School’s Chazen Institute for Global Business. She holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Michigan and an MBA and MIA from Columbia Business School and Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs. Ms. Michelson is a CFA® charterholder.

Yann Picard serves as Executive Director of Products at NorthStar Earth & Space, where he leads the Company’s product strategy and development, driving the evolution of its space-based intelligence solutions. Mr. Picard brings more than 20 years of experience in satellite communications, space situational awareness, and software product management, having held senior leadership positions at Safran and Zodiac Data Systems, where he led product strategy, managed multidisciplinary engineering teams, and oversaw the deployment of satellite communication and orbital data service solutions. Earlier in his career, he held engineering and research roles at Philips Applied Technology and NXP Semiconductors, specializing in signal processing, image processing, and software development. Mr. Picard holds a Master of Science in Signal and Image Processing and Computer Science from Télécom Paris and a Master of Science in Applied Mathematics from École Polytechnique.

Nadia Rochdi serves as Executive Director of Ei² Products, at NorthStar Earth & Space, where she leads the development of the Company’s Earth Information and Intelligence (Ei²) product portfolio and advances the application of Earth observation data to commercial and government use cases. Dr. Rochdi brings more than 20 years of experience in Earth observation, remote sensing, and geospatial intelligence, having held research and technical leadership roles at the University of Lethbridge, the Alberta Terrestrial Imaging Corporation, and the Canada Centre for Remote Sensing. She began her career as a doctoral researcher at the Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA) in France and holds both a Ph.D. in Earth Sciences (Remote Sensing) and a Master of Science, both from The Institut National Agronomique Paris-Grignon.