This episode features Ian Christensen, Audrey Schaffer, and Clayton Swope, who join USAI Program Assistant Jillian to discuss Chinese and American advancements in orbital data centers and satellite infrastructure and what these developments mean for space security, competition, and international governance.
Ian Christensen is Senior Director of Private Sector Programs at Secure World Foundation (SWF), where he leads engagement with the commercial space industry on policy and governance topics, including space debris mitigation, safety, and traffic coordination. He was a member of the Hague International Space Resources Governance Working Group and the CONFERS Secretariat, and from 2019 to 2025 co-organized Track II dialogues between U.S. and Chinese space stakeholders. He was a 2025 Karman Fellow. Prior to SWF, he worked at Futron Corporation and Avascent, leading market and forecasting studies for space sector clients. He holds an M.A. in international science and technology policy from George Washington University's Elliott School and dual B.S. degrees in political science and biochemistry from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Audrey Schaffer is Senior Vice President of Global Policy and Government Strategy at Slingshot Aerospace, a space data and AI company focused on space safety and sustainability. She spent over 15 years in government, most recently as Director for Space Policy on the National Security Council, where she advised the President on military, intelligence, civil, and commercial space policy. She led efforts to establish the U.S. Space Force in law, set U.S. policy against destructive anti-satellite missile testing, and negotiated the first UN guidelines for space sustainability. She is a non-resident senior associate at CSIS and serves on SWF's Advisory Committee. She holds a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from MIT and an M.A. in International Science and Technology Policy from George Washington University.
Clayton Swope is Deputy Director of the Aerospace Security Project and a senior fellow in the Defense and Security Department at CSIS. He previously led national security and cybersecurity public policy for Amazon's Project Kuiper and worked on cloud policy at Amazon. Earlier, he was a senior adviser on national security, space, foreign affairs, and technology policy for a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, and spent over 14 years at the CIA, largely in the Directorate of Science and Technology. He holds a B.S. in mechanical engineering from the University of Notre Dame.
