A Conversation with Jordan Charles - Senior VP, New Glenn at Blue Origin

Please join the Duke SPACE Initiative and the Space Diplomacy Lab for a timely conversation with Jordan Charles (Pratt '09), Senior Vice President, New Glenn at Blue Origin, on reusable rockets, boots on the moon, and the emerging space economy. The conversation will be moderated by Giovanni Zanalda (SSRI, Economics, SDL, DSI) and Jon Reifschneider (Pratt School of Engineering). Jordan Charles is the Vice President of the New Glenn Heavy-Lift Orbital Launch Vehicle for Blue Origin. In this role, he's responsible for the overall strategy, business plan, and execution of the New Glenn business unit, including both 7x2 and 9x4 vehicles. Jordan previously was the Vice President and General Manager of the New Glenn Stage 1 reusable booster program. He led the team responsible for the design, development, manufacturing, and certification of one of the world's largest reusable rocket stages. Before joining Blue Origin, Jordan held leadership positions at Boeing and Lockheed Martin across engineering, supply chain, and program management. Jordan is an engineer and inventor at heart. He has authored several international peer-reviewed journal publications and patented several aerospace design and manufacturing concepts that have subsequently served as key product architecture enablers. Jordan holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Duke University ('09), a Master's Degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a Master's in Business Administration from MIT's Sloan School of Management. Jordan also serves on the Board of FIRST WA Robotics and has a strong passion for improving DEI in STEM with a goal of making STEM careers more accessible to diverse and underserved communities This event is organized by the Duke SPACE Initiative (DSI) in collaboration with the Pratt School of Engineering, the Space Diplomacy Lab (SDL) at the Sanford School of Public Policy, and the Department of Economics.