Our Leadership

Ron Garan

Chief Executive Officer

ispace - U.S. CEO, Ron Garan is a former NASA astronaut, serial entrepreneur, humanitarian, and highly decorated combat fighter pilot. Prior to joining ispace - U.S., Ron served in various leadership positions including EVP of Operations and Co-President in the commercial spaceflight company, World View. Ron racked up 178 days in space and more than 71 million miles in 2,842 orbits between tours on the US Space Shuttle, Russian Soyuz spacecraft, and the International Space Station. During his time in space, Ron conducted four spacewalks in support of ISS construction and maintenance. Prior to those space journeys, he lived and conducted research on the bottom of the ocean in the world’s only undersea research lab, Aquarius. Before reaching the summit of his career, Ron, a former test pilot and graduate of the US Naval Test Pilot School taught hundreds of elite fighter pilots how to "up their game" as a flight instructor at the prestigious USAF Fighter Weapons School, the Air Force version of Top Gun. He is the author of the critically acclaimed books, The Orbital Perspective, the recently-released, Floating in Darkness – A Journey of Evolution, and the children’s book, Railroad to the Moon. Ron is celebrated not just for his research in space but also for his humanitarian contribution to life on Earth.

Elizabeth Kryst

EVP, Programs

Elizabeth Kryst is responsible for Programs, Supply Chain, and Business Transformation initiatives for the U.S. entity. Elizabeth has held various leadership roles across the aerospace sector, ranging from new product introduction to program management and strategic planning in advanced material science and environmental sciences. Prior to joining ispace - U.S., Elizabeth most recently served as the Chief of Staff – Vice President of Business Operations for World View, an Aerospace startup company pioneering un-crewed high altitude Stratospheric flight systems for a myriad of remote sensing applications. She holds a Masters in Engineering (MEng) from Arizona State University and a Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from the University of Illinois at Chicago.