SpaceVision 26

Will Pomerantz is an aerospace executive with more than two decades of mission-driven leadership experience across the entrepreneurial and nonprofit sectors. He currently serves as the Head of Space Ventures at AeroVironment, leading the P&L and interdisciplinary team that developed the Collier Trophy–winning Mars helicopter Ingenuity and the 2028 SkyFall mission in partnership with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. In this role, Will oversees a multi-mission planetary drone portfolio, driving business expansion and pushing the frontiers of space exploration.

Previously, Will served as Vice President of Special Projects and Vice President of Brand at Virgin Orbit, where as Employee #001 he helped scale the company from a single business plan concept into a publicly traded, billion-dollar venture with a proven launch system. His career also includes executive leadership roles as Vice President of Special Projects at Virgin Galactic and Senior Director for Space Prizes at the XPRIZE Foundation, where he created and led the $30M Google Lunar XPRIZE and the $2M Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge.

A dedicated advocate for the future of the aerospace workforce, Will co-founded the award-winning Brooke Owens Fellowship and Patti Grace Smith Fellowship. Together, these organizations have provided paid aerospace internships and over $500,000 in scholarships to more than 600 undergraduate students from communities historically underserved by the aerospace industry. He currently serves as Chair of the Board of Advisors for the Brooke Owens Fellowship, on the Executive Board for the Patti Grace Smith Fellowship, and on the Board of Directors for the Open Lunar Foundation. Will has also served on the strategic leadership team for Space Workforce 2030, as the longest-serving Chair of the Board of Advisors for SEDS-USA, and on the Board of Advisors for Space for Humanity.