Michael O’Connor is a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Space Force and a former Department of the Air Force Space Force Fellow at Georgetown’s Center for Security and Emerging Technologies (CSET). Prior to joining CSET, he was a space program test lead at Los Angeles Air Force Base, CA. Before his program office role, Michael served as an evaluator flight test engineer supporting remotely piloted aircraft testing at the Air Force Test Center at Edwards Air Force Base. He holds a Master’s in Flight Test Engineering from the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School, a Master’s in Aeronautics and Astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a Bachelor’s in Astronautical Engineering and Math from the U.S. Air Force Academy.
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Reports
Eyes Wide Open: Harnessing the Remote Sensing and Data Analysis Industries to Enhance National Security
July 2024The U.S. government has an opportunity to seize strategic advantages by working with the remote sensing and data analysis industries. Both grew rapidly over the last decade alongside technology improvements, cheaper space launch, new investment-based… Read More
In an op-ed published in Breaking Defense, CSET Space Force Fellow, Michael O'Connor, delves into the increasing concerns about AI safety and the need for rigorous safety testing before AI systems are deployed. Read More
Replicator: A Bold New Path for DoD
September 2023The Replicator effort by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) is intended to overcome some of the military challenges posed by China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA). This blog post intends to both identify tradeoffs for… Read More