Jordan Wachs is the Director for Business Development at SpaceRake. He received a B.S. with majors in Physics as well as Engineering Mechanics and Astronautics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2011, an M.E. in Electrical Engineering, specializing in photonics and optical physics, from the University of Colorado Boulder in 2017, and a M.S. in Engineering and Management from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2022. He was awarded a 2018 NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) fellowship to investigate the use of optical frequency comb-based interferometers in the detection and observation of exoplanets and a 2019 Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) SPARK grant to study novel imaging systems using micro photonics at l'Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL). Professionally, he has led or supported all phases of the aerospace lifecycle from low-TRL R&D to operation of multi-billion dollar satellite systems for the US Government. He worked at Ball Aerospace until 2019, where he supported on-orbit operations for the Joint Polar Satellite System (now NOAA 20), systems engineering for JWST, and established a first of its kind laser system laboratory for ultra precise communication and metrology. He routinely facilitated collaborative efforts for technology development between academia, the US government, and large and small businesses both foreign and domestic. These efforts include small satellite formation flying constellation architectures, optical physics demonstrations, and SBIR-funded space-robotics demonstrations.  He worked as a technical program manager at the Charles Stark Draper Laboratory until 2022 serving DARPA, NASA, the US Space Force, and other customers. He fostered interagency cooperation and advancement of technologies, including multiple with commercially viable dual-use applications. Additionally, he supported small companies in successful SBIR/STTR efforts to advance technologies in the commercial space arena.   He joined SpaceRake in 2022, where he is working to enable the small satellite industry to deliver more value to stakeholders on Earth by streamlining the flow of data from orbit to users on the ground using a new laser communication technology developed through collaboration with academics and industry experts.