Kiko Dontchev Email & Phone Number

Hawthorne, California, Us

Oversee operations and infrastructure at SpaceX's launch and recovery sites in California (Vandenberg) and Florida (Cape/KSC)

Hawthorne, California, Us

Oversee launch and recovery operations along with ground engineering and fabrication for SpaceX's operational Falcon and Dragon vehicle fleet. Includes oversight of Pad 39A, Pad SLC-40 along with our SpaceX Navy (Droneships, Fairing and Dragon Recovery Vessels).

Hawthorne, California, Us

Oversee the maintenance, integration, and operations of the Dragon 2 spaceship, Payload Fairings, and commerical/govt/starlink satellites at the Cape.

Hawthorne, California, Us

Hawthorne, California, Us

Oversee all Dragon pre-flight processing, refurbishment and launch operations on the east coast. Responsible for all associated infrastructure, including Area 59, a previous Air Force facility used to process the entire GPS satellite constellation fleet. Directly manage a team of managers, leads, engineers, and technicians. Indirectly lead the entire launch departments effort in cargo and crew Dragon flight. Primary launch interface to NASA for the Commercial Crew and CRS programs.

Hawthorne, California, Us

Responsible for all Dragon ground operation activities at the launch site including pre-flight vehicle processing, static fire, dragon refurbishment, vehicle recovery (once on boat), spacesuit processing, crew activities, integrated transport, and integrated development testing. Responsible for designing, building, and maintaining all Dragon 2 processing facilities and ground support equipment

Hawthorne, California, Us

Led special projects related to Dragon 2 development and also lead our Red Dragon and precision, propulsive landing efforts on Dragon.

Hawthorne, California, Us

Lead engineer focused on the development of the Crew Dragon spacecraft. Providing system-level coordination and management during the design, production and delivery phases of the Pad Abort Test Article. Work involves coordinating development activities between internal departments to deliver new products on schedule and per requirements and also being one of the primary customer interfaces.

Hawthorne, California, Us

Li-Ion Battery development team key contributor for Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft designs. Flight heritage on two F9 rockets, three Dragon spacecraft, and one test vehicle.

Ann Arbor, Michigan, Us

• RAX-1 flew in Fall 2010 and was operated for over 3 months., RAX-2 launched in Fall of 2011 and is still fully functional after operating for more than a year. All primary and secondary missions objectives were met• Developed requirements, design, test, and integration plan for power system on 3U CubeSat• Conducted environmental, survivability, and lifetime testing on flight Li-Ion battery system• Designed and tested power system for a 3U CubeSat in a 1.5 year concept to launch program

Ann Arbor, Michigan, Us

AOSS 101: Intro to Rocket Science and AOSS 583: Spacecraft Design• Developed, wrote and graded homework and exams. Delivered lectures in professor’s absence.

Arlington, Va, Us

Power Systems Engineer (Jan 2007 - Aug 2007)• Developed Electrical Power System specification document for next generation satellite bus • Managed, performed, and analyzed electromagnetic interference risk reduction system test • Designed tool for Quality group to monitor requirement development and engineering check • Presented Lithium Ion Battery training package to satellite system test operatorsEngineering Resources and People (May 2008 - Aug 2008)• Developed 2009 Recruiting Strategy and university targets for Satellite Development Center• Captured recruiting and retention ideas from meetings with all functional managers • Developed retention plan with go forward and ROI on recommended strategies• Presented recruiting and retention strategy to Chief Engineer and Executives

Cleveland, Oh, Us

• Organized, cleaned, and prepared flight hardware for the MISSE 6 experiment• Deposited and characterized solar selective coatings for the MISSE 6 experiment• Performed a full failure analysis for Ion-Tech Dual Ion Beam System• Gained valuable experience in an engineering environment while developing design skills

Master Of Engineering, Space Engineering

Bachelor Of Engineering (B.E.), Aerospace, Aeronautical And Astronautical Engineering