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Patricia Cooper
Patricia Cooper is the founder of Constellation Advisory, LLC, providing strategic, regulatory and policy advice to both traditional satellite companies and emerging space players. Most recently, she led SpaceX’s satellite government affairs practice during the formative roll-out of the Starlink satellite broadband constellation project, leading strategy, licensing, and policy activities in the U.S. and overseas. As Vice President, Patricia secured Federal Communications Commission authorization for a record 12,000 satellites, and market access to offer high-speed broadband services in more than 20 countries. She also advocated for sensible updates to spectrum, telecom competition and space safety regulations in the US and internationally, to support the new generation of satellite networks. Today, Starlink serves over a million users worldwide with a constellation of over 4,000 satellites.
Prior to SpaceX, Cooper was Intelsat’s Vice President of Government Affairs & Policy, heading up U.S. and international policy and U.S. Congressional lobbying activities for the world’s second largest geostationary satellite fleet. Before that, she led the Satellite Industry Association (SIA), the leading trade organization representing U.S. satellite operators, manufacturers, and service providers.
Cooper previously served at the U.S. Federal Communications Commission’s International Bureau, both as Senior Satellite Competition Advisor and Branch Chief for Regional & Bilateral Affairs. Before that, she directed international market access for two start-ups – CoreExpress, an Internet fiber infrastructure company, and PanAmSat Corporation, a disruptor in the early geostationary satellite services market that gained global prominence and eventually merged with Intelsat. She began her career at the U.S. Department of Commerce as an International Trade Specialist for the satellite industry and telecom markets in Latin America.
She is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Space, the Hague Institute of Justice’s Off World Council, and the advisory committee for the International Astronomical Union’s Centre for the Protection of Dark & Quiet Skies. She previously served on expert advisory committees for the FCC, U.S. Departments of State, Commerce and Homeland Security, the Federal Aviation Administration, and the International Telecommunications Union.
Cooper holds a Master’s Degree with Distinction in International Economics from the John Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies and Bachelor’s Degrees in Political Science and German from Kansas State University (summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa).
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