David Nartker

David grew up in the suburbs of Chicago and graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 2011 with a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering. He commissioned as a Surface Warfare Officer in the U.S. Navy and served for eight years aboard ships and small craft. During his service, he deployed to the Asia-Pacific region in 2013 and the Middle East in 2015, and participated in multiple small-scale exercises across South American and Pacific operational theaters.

In 2019, David resigned his commission and enrolled at Purdue University to pursue graduate studies. While completing his degrees, he worked part-time at Zucrow Laboratories and served as President of the Purdue Student Veterans Organization. In 2021, he earned both a Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering and a Master of Business Administration.

Following graduation, David joined Northrop Grumman as a Systems and Propulsion Engineer and relocated to Northern Virginia. He later transferred to the Propulsion Test Division, where he conducted pressure and functional testing on satellites produced at the company’s Dulles facility, including the Cygnus space station resupply spacecraft. He subsequently accepted a role as a Spacecraft Propulsion Consultant with SAIC, serving as a Systems Engineering and Technical Assistance (SETA) contractor supporting multiple classified government programs.

In this capacity, David provides control room support to the Program Director during live mission operations, conducting mission analysis, logging, and evaluation for critical on-orbit events with compressed decision timelines. He also contributes to the development of next-generation thrusters, advanced satellite propulsion bus architectures, and Refurbishment, Integration, and Test (RIT) operations at Cape Canaveral.