Michael Johanson

Michael Johanson brings more than three decades of leadership in aerospace and defense, with expertise spanning engineering, program management, business development, and executive strategy. He has advanced complex spaceflight systems and missions for NASA, the Department of War, and international partners, from the Space Shuttle and International Space Station to Artemis, lunar exploration, and commercial space destinations.

Mr. Johanson serves as Executive Vice President of Comsat Architects, a Cleveland-based space communications company providing communications architecture, navigation, systems engineering, digital engineering, and space domain awareness solutions for civil, defense, and commercial missions. He also supports Acoustic Research Systems, helping expand the company into a scalable aerospace testing provider supporting programs including Artemis Crew and Service Modules, NASA’s VIPER rover, Amazon LEO, Blue Origin’s Blue Ring and Human Landing System, and Sierra Space’s Dream Chaser.

Previously, Mr. Johanson held senior leadership positions with McDonnell Douglas Aerospace/Boeing, Northrop Grumman, ZIN Technologies/Voyager Space, and Parallax Advanced Research. His career includes full life-cycle engineering at six NASA Centers, supporting launch vehicles, satellites, spacecraft, and mission operations, as well as more than 400 microgravity research payloads flown on Spacelab, Spacehab, Mir, the Space Shuttle, and the International Space Station.

He has led capture and business development into operations for major NASA science and exploration programs, including the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS), Space Launch System (SLS) and Orion. He has also supported the growth of commercial space through partnerships involving Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS), Communications Services Project (CSP), Sierra Space’s Dream Chaser and Voyager Space’s Starlab. His work has included international collaboration with organizations including the German Aerospace Center (DLR), Canadian Space Agency, European Space Agency, UAE Space Agency, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.

A longtime advocate for Ohio’s civil space economy, Mr. Johanson served on Ohio’s Aerospace and Aviation Technology Committee and currently on boards of the Keystone Space Collaborative and Aerozone Alliance. He also chaired Ohio Aerospace Day from 2017–2022. He holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and an M.S. in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from the University of Tennessee.