Biographies

Mr. James J. Miller

Executive Secretary, National Space Council Users’ Advisory Group

Deputy Director, Policy & Strategic Communications, SCaN, NASA HQ

Mr. Miller also serves as the Executive Secretary of the National Space 

Council (NSpC) Users’ Advisory Group (UAG), reporting to the Office of 

the Vice President (OVP). Prior to his NASA assignment, James served as 

the Deputy Director of the Office of Navigation and Spectrum Policy at 

the U.S. Department of Transportation, where he received the 2004 

Bronze Award from the Under Secretary of Transportation for his work 

on the President’s Spectrum Policy Initiative for the 21st Century.

Preceding his government service, Mr. Miller was a Program Manager for the Flight Standards & 

Technology Department at United Airlines, where he assisted in determining airline industry policy on 

emerging communications, navigation, surveillance (CNS) technologies and applications. He was a 

founding member of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) Spectrum Protection Steering 

Group, elected as Vice-Chairman of the ARINC Aeronautical Frequency Committee (AFC), and a key 

flight operations representative on the Air Transport Association (ATA) Flight Systems Integration 

Committee.

In these roles, he led airline industry efforts at two World Radiocommunication Conferences (WRCs), 

eventually serving as the IATA spokesperson to the US Ambassador. In 2000, industry and 

government leaders recognized James for accomplishments on behalf of the airline industry, including 

the CEO of United Airlines, the President and CEO of ATA, and US Vice-President Al Gore.

Prior to working in the corporate sector, James was an academic researcher at Curtin University of 

Technology (CUT) in Perth, Western Australia in 1989, and returned “Down Under” in 1995 to conduct 

his thesis research in Brisbane at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Space Center for 

Satellite Navigation. Mr. Miller is a commercial airplane pilot with degrees in Aviation Flight, Aviation 

Management, Master of Public Administration (MPA) degree from Southern Illinois University, and a 

Master of International Policy and Practice (MIPP) from The George Washington University. More 

recently, James was selected by NASA leadership to serve as a Harvard Senior Executive Fellow (SEF) 

at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, completing the world-renown program in April, 2023.
Ms. Barbara Adde

Deputy Executive Director, National Space Council Users’ Advisory Group

Director of Policy and Strategic Communications, SCaN, NASA Headquarters

Barbara Adde serves as a GS-15 civil servant, in the role of Policy & Strategic 

Communications (PSC) Director for Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN), 

within the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate at NASA 

Headquarters. In this role since 2008, Ms. Adde is responsible for SCaN’s outreach to 

SCaN’s key stakeholders, including its customers, the public, academia, and 

communities connected to the SCaN Program, such as the tracking stations for 

SCaN’s networks – the Deep Space Network and the Near Space Network. Her outreach program includes a wide 

variety of activities, including the SCaN public website, social media, exhibits, traveling exhibits, and the SCaN 

Intern Project. She also serves as the Executive Secretariat for the Interoperability Plenary and the Interagency 

Operations Advisory Group, consisting of 15 international space agencies. In 2020, Ms. Adde was named as 

Designated Federal Official to the Education & Outreach Subcommittee of the National Space Council’s Users’ 

Advisory Group. As PSC Director, she works closely with NASA’s national and international policy for Positioning, 

Navigation and Timing, the services of the Global Positioning System (GPS), which is managed by the PSC Deputy 

Director, James Miller.

Ms. Adde began her career at NASA in 1997 as a political appointee in the Office of Legislative Affairs, providing 

legislative support to the Space Operations Mission Directorate, which included NASA’s human spaceflight 

programs, the Space Shuttle and International Space Station, and spectrum management, as well as the Office 

of International and Interagency Relations. Converting to civil service in 2001, she served as Legislative Specialist 

and Outreach Specialist in the Space Operations Mission Directorate until 2008.

Prior to NASA, Ms. Adde served as Confidential Assistant to the Associate Director for Technology in the White 

House Office of Science and Technology Policy, as a political appointee, from 1993-1997.

Ms. Adde graduated from the University of Delaware in 1981 with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication. She 

was appointed to the Space Generation Advisory Council’s Honorary Board in August 2010
Dr. Benjamin Ashman

Aerospace Engineer

Navigation and Mission Design

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

Benjamin Ashman is an aerospace engineer in the Navigation and Mission 

Design Branch at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, 

Maryland. His research is focused on space applications of Global 

Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS). Dr. Ashman has supported numerous 

missions, including TDRS-M and OSIRIS-Rex. He is currently a coinvestigator for the Lunar GNSS Receiver Experiment, navigation lead for 

NASA’s lunar relay development, and detailee to the Space Communications and Navigation program at NASA 

headquarters. He was the 2021-2022 Institute of Navigation congressional fellow and spent the year in the office 

of Senator Sherrod Brown. Dr. Ashman is from Dayton, Ohio and received his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering 

from Purdue University in 2016 and his B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Ohio University in 2010.
Mr. Cody Kelly

National Affairs Manager

Search and Rescue Mission Office

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

Cody Kelly currently serves as the National Affairs Manager within NASA’s 

Search and Rescue Mission Office at the Goddard Spaceflight Center. His role 

includes the coordination and leadership of NASA’s work in research and 

development of search and rescue technologies for use by those in distress 

anywhere in the world. He is the current lead for all Human Spaceflight SAR 

activities and supports ongoing missions with dedicated search and rescue 

data for locating crew capsules and astronauts following landing. For future 

exploration missions, Cody is leading the development of Lunar Search and 

Rescue (LunaSAR) requirements and systems for human exploration of the 

lunar south pole and sustained lunar surface presence. Cody is NASA’s representative to the US Government’s 

National Search and Rescue Committee, helping shape post-disaster response policy and coordination of SAR 

capabilities to save lives.

Cody was honored by Popular Mechanics Magazine as one of 2017’s Breakthrough Award winners for his work 

in the civilian and military satellite-aided search and rescue community, as well as NASA’s prestigious Early 

Career Achievement Medal for enabling joint NASA and military rescue operations. Cody was awarded NASA’s 

Silver Snoopy Award in 2020 for his work on astronaut rescue equipment and testing.

Cody graduated from Texas A&M in 2012 with a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering and Certificate in 

Advanced International Affairs. 

Outside of NASA, Cody is a first responder specializing in hazardous materials response, as well as serving as a 

Planning Team support member on the Texas A&M Task Force One, combining professional passions in search 

and rescue with opportunities to help others. Originally from Bandera, Texas, Cody is an avid supporter of spacebased data equity for rural development and humanitarian aid domestically and globally.
Mr. René J. (RJ) Balanga

Deputy Director, Spectrum Policy and Planning

NASA Headquarters

Mr. Balanga serves as the Deputy Director at the Spectrum Policy and Planning 

Division at NASA Headquarters. Mr. Balanga joined NASA in November 2015 and, 

currently, serves as the principal advisor to the Spectrum Policy and Planning 

Director. He also leads various NASA strategic initiatives focused on spectrum 

professional education and outreach initiatives. His professional experience 

includes over 26 years of spectrum management knowledge and policy analysis, 

with 20+ years of federal government service.

Prior to joining NASA, Mr. Balanga served in various spectrum management capacities at the Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), from 2002 to 2015, including as the FAA representative to the Frequency Assignment 

Subcommittee, under the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s Interdepartment 

Radio Advisory Committee. Mr. Balanga spent the majority of his tenure with the FAA managing spectrum 

utilized for Air-Ground Communications. Mr. Balanga also oversaw the spectrum bands for surveillance/radar 

systems and served as the FAA coordination lead for testing and training activities with the Department of 

Defense and other Federal Agencies in support of electronic attack/electronic warfare, identification friend or 

foe, and counter-radio improvised electronic device systems.

Before Mr. Balanga began working in the Federal government, he worked in private industry for 7 years. From 

1996 to 1998, Mr. Balanga worked as a Wireless Network Design Engineering Consultant for Kurtis and 

Associates, P.C., a telecommunications law firm in Washington D.C. From 1998 to 2002, Mr. Balanga worked as 

a Regional Radio Frequency Lead at Teligent, Inc. in Vienna, VA, as well as, a Lead Technical Engineer for the 

Teligent Professional Services Team, which was established to spearhead international joint-venture business 

development.

Mr. Balanga holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Virginia Tech and attended George 

Mason University for a Master’s of Arts in Telecommunications Management. Mr. Balanga also served on the 

Virginia Tech, Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Advisory Board.