Michael J. Patterson

Mr. Patterson formerly served as the Senior Technologist for In-Space Propulsion at NASA Glenn Research Center where he led the development of numerous EP thrusters and systems for over 40 years. During that period he designed and tested over 40 different thrusters, including more than 30 gridded ion thruster designs.

Mr. Patterson designed and developed NASA’s NSTAR thruster successfully flown on JPL’s Deep Space 1 and Dawn missions. He was also responsible for the design and development of the NASA’s NEXT thruster and ion propulsion system, most recently implemented on APL’s DART Mission.

He holds 12 patents, including the Annular Ion Engine concept, and is the recipient of an Aviation Week & Space Technology Space Laurel Award, Government Invention of The Year Award, a NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal, The Astronauts’ Personal Achievement Award – “Silver Snoopy”, and numerous other awards.

During his tenure at NASA some of his activities included working with U.S. commercial and U.S. Government representatives to facilitate the transition of NASA-developed EP technologies for application to Commercial Space (CS) and National Security Space (NSS) missions, and developing new and disruptive EP thruster and system approaches to address NASA, CS, and NSS requirements.

Mr. Patterson is an Electric Propulsion systems SME supporting multiple organizations including the Defense Systems Information Analysis Center (DSIAC).