Michael J. Mackowski is an electrical systems engineer at Orbital ATK who has been in the spacecraft design and development business for nearly forty years. He has worked on such programs as Landsat 8, the Fermi and Swift gamma ray observatories, the Iridium communications satellite constellation, several NASA science satellites, and the Space Shuttle. He was with McDonnell Douglas Astronautics Company in St. Louis from 1977 until 1992.

Outside the workplace, Mr. Mackowski is very involved in space advocacy and promoting the benefits of space exploration to the general public. He was co-founder of the original St. Louis Space Frontier and is the former president of the Phoenix chapters of both the National Space Society and the Moon Society, and is the current chair for K-12 and STEM outreach with the Phoenix Section of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). Mr. Mackowski also is an Associate Fellow of AIAA, a fellow of the British Interplanetary Society, and a member of the International Association of Astronomical Artists.