George Ojalehto

George Ojalehto has 35 years experience in manned and unmanned spaceflight operations including systems safety analysis and safety regulation experience. He became involved with the U.S. space program in 1959 as a part of the U.S Air Force’s first operational Atlas missile program at F.E. Warren AFB in Cheyenne, Wyoming. In 1964 he spent a year at the Air Force Eastern Test Range learning about launch support and tracking network operations. In 1965 he was chosen for a special assignment with NASA at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. Mr. Ojalehto was a member of Gemini and Apollo Mission Control Teams and, in this capacity, served as the prime MCC Network Controller for Apollo 8 (the first manned lunar orbital mission) and Apollo 11 (the first manned lunar landing mission).

Mr. Ojalehto was later assigned to the Air Force Space Shuttle Program Office in Los Angeles, California where he helped prepare for Space Shuttle operations at Vandenberg AFB and supported USAF Interim Upper Stage development activities. This was followed by another special assignment at the NASA Headquarters Space Shuttle Program Office where he developed policies concerning Shuttle operator/user roles, responsibilities, and reimbursement. Mr. Ojalehto also served as NASA’s prime Space Shuttle launch agreement negotiator in dealing with the Governments of Indonesia, Japan, and Germany.

In 1980 Mr. Ojalehto was assigned to a Department of Defense position at the U.S. Department of State (Office of Advanced Technology) where he became a key member of interagency teams dealing with critical national space issues related to such activities as the Space Shuttle, Space Station, Landsat Commercialization, and ELV Commercialization. He was a key contributor to the preparation/coordination of the original (1984) Commercial Space Launch Act and he coordinated Munitions Control license requests related to launch vehicle and satellite technology. During this period, Mr. Ojalehto co-chaired an interagency group on space-related technology transfer and was a key member of the initial interagency Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) negotiating team.

Following his retirement from the U.S. Air Force in 1985, Mr. Ojalehto was employed by Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) where he conducted studies and analyses on civil related technology transfer, space commercialization, and Space Shuttle/Space Station utilization. He was project manager for analyses and assessments of technology developments in foreign non-Communist countries over a broad range of technologies and project manager of a study for an Advanced Civil Earth Remote Sensing System for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Following his employment with SAIC, Mr. Ojalehto was employed by Marconi Systems Technologies (formerly Tracor, Inc. and Vitro Corp.) where he was the Program Manager for the Vitro/Tracor support contract with NASA Headquarters Office of Safety and Mission Assurance. In this capacity Mr. Ojalehto directed technical analyses and support activities in the areas of safety, reliability, maintainability, and quality assurance.

Since his retirement from Marconi Systems Technologies in 1999, Mr. Ojalehto has been employed on a part-time basis by ANSER Corporation and Sverdrup Technology conducting analyses of Munitions Export License applications and Government Regulations related to space launch vehicle, satellite, and infrastructure technology transfer.

Mr. Ojalehto holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering from the U. S. Naval Academy and a Master of Science degree in Engineering Management from Southern Methodist University. In addition, he is a graduate of the Department of Defense Industrial College of the Armed Forces.

Mr. Ojalehto has earned several awards including the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Air Force Legion of Merit, the NASA Apollo Achievement Award, and other NASA Group Achievement awards. Mr. Ojalehto, an Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) and member of the AIAA International Activities Committee has had a number of publications published in AIAA’s Aerospace America since1991. He is also a member of the Air Force Association; the American Astronautical Society; the National Space Club; the National Space Society; and the NASA Alumni League.