Ben Kellie

Ben Kellie is a Co-Founder & CEO of Applied Atomics, a deep tech startup working to unlock co-located nuclear fission power provide affordable, firm, clean power in order to unlock the next 1,000 years of energy for humanity. Ben began his career at SpaceX, where he played a critical role in developing their west coast launch pad at Vandenburg AFB eventually serving as Lead Engineer, then went on to build the landing barges for recovery of landed rockets from first steel in the shipyard through the first missions at sea. He then founded The Launch Company, which delivered standardized flight hardware and autonomous launch systems to a new generation of aerospace ventures, successfully bootstrapping hardware to space. That company was acquired by Voyager Space in 2021. He has an MS in Mechanical Engineering from Ohio State University, and a BS in Mechanical Engineering from University of Alaska Fairbanks. He lives in Anchorage, Alaska with his family.