SpaceWorks

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John Bradford

President, SpaceWorks Engineering, Inc.

John Bradford

Email: john.bradford@sei.aero
Phone: 1+770.379.8007

Dr. Bradford’s technical background is in systems integration & power/propulsion system design and performance assessment. He has served as SEI’s Project Manager for numerous government sponsored programs with the Air Force Research Labs (AFRL), NASA, and DARPA. Under an activity with AFRL, Dr. Bradford led a team to design two military space plane (MSP) vehicle concepts called the Quicksat and Sentinel. Working with various NASA field centers, he has supported the Space Launch Initiative (SLI) and Next Generation Launch Technologies (NGLT) RLV development programs, providing both concept analysis and disciplinary expertise in the area of propulsion and aeroheating/TPS analysis. Dr. Bradford also led the firm’s activities in support of both the DARPA/Air Force FALCON program (under the Northrop-Grumman team) and DARPA RASCAL program (under the Coleman Research team).

Prior to joining SEI in 2001, he gained experience with both government and commercial organizations including NASA MSFC and Aerojet in Sacramento, CA. While at Aerojet, he contributed to the Strutjet RBCC program’s engine performance analysis and trajectory simulations for the DARPA ARRMD (currently known as HyFly) dual-combustor ramjet hypersonic missile program. At NASA MSFC, Dr. Bradford performed engineering support for the DRACO RBCC engine demonstrator and Bantam-X small-payload launcher projects.

In addition to managing company operations and supporting various contracted efforts at SEI, Dr. Bradford has developed a number of disciplinary-specific engineering analysis tools. These products include computational models for thermal protection system design/aeroheating, trajectory simulations, liquid rocket and air-breathing engine design, as well as large-scale, multidisciplinary concept engineering environments.

Dr. Bradford is currently a Senior Member of AIAA and a member of both the AIAA High-Speed Air-Breathing Propulsion Technical Committee (HSABP) and the Space Propulsion Synergy Team (SPST).