Bio

Stephen Horan, Ph.D., retired in 2021 from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Langley Research Center (LaRC). Previously, he retired from New Mexico State University.

In the Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory (SAIL) at NASA Johnson Space Center

Dr. Horan joined Langley in 2009 as a spacecraft communications lead for satellite and hosted payload concepts through 2011. He then served as the Branch Head for the Remote Sensing Flight Systems Branch. Starting in August 2013, he became the Principal Technologist for Avionics in NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate. In 2020, he transitioned to the primary position as the Deputy for the NASA Sensors and Instrumentation Technical Fellow. Also, from 2017 through 2021, he was the Spectrum manager for LaRC.

Dr. Horan is a Professor Emeritus at New Mexico State University where he held the Frank Carden endowed chair in Telemetering and Telecommunications from 1996 to 2009 when he retired as a Professor and Department Head in the Klipsch School of Electrical and Computer Engineering. At NMSU, he developed the graduate telemetering systems course at the Klipsch School and the industry short course upon which his textbook is based. He taught other courses in communications systems and was the principal investigator on several telemetry and telecommunications projects at NMSU. He has been a NASA/ASEE Summer Faculty Fellow at Johnson Space Center and Goddard Space Flight Center. Dr. Horan’s research focus was in the area of space communications under the support of NASA and the Air Force, including leading the development of the communications system for the 3 Corner Satellite and the NMSUSat nanosatellite projects.

Standing at the Prime Meridian in Greenwich, England

Awards

Receiving the Pioneer Award from the International Foundation for Telemetering
  • NASA Group Achievement Award, MAIA Host Services Acquisition Support Team, 2019
  • NASA Group Achievement Award, Announcement of Cooperative Opportunity/Tipping Point Team, 2019
    • Pioneer Award, International Foundation for Telemetering, 2017
    • NASA Group Achievement Award, Radiation Dosimetry Experiment Team, 2016
    • LaRC Center Group Award, Lab77 Team, 2016
    • NASA Group Achievement Award, NASA Asteroid Redirect Mission Concept Development Team, 2014
    • LaRC Director’s Group Award, EV-2 FIREX Proposal Team, 2012
    • LaRC Director’s Group Award, EV-2 CHRONOS Proposal Team, 2012
    • NASA Group Achievement Award, CLARREO Mission Concept Team, 2012
    • NASA Tech Briefs Article Award, 2007
    • NMSU Research Council Distinguished Career Award for Exceptional Achievements in Creative Scholarly Activity, 2005.
    • Faculty Achievement Award for Teaching Excellence, El Paso Corporate Foundation, 2003.

Prior to joining the NMSU faculty, Dr. Horan was with Space Communications Company (now part of General Dynamics) working in the areas of satellite telemetry and telecommand systems, operator interfaces, and systems engineering at NASA’s White Sands Ground Terminal.

Education

Dr. Horan received an A.B. in physics from Franklin and Marshall College. At New Mexico State University, he earned an M.S. in astronomy, an M.S.E.E., and a Ph.D. in electrical engineering.

Dr. Horan is a life senior member of the IEEE and a senior member of the AIAA. He represents the IEEE as an ABET program evaluator in electrical and telecommunications engineering. From 2019 to 2024, he was an ABET Engineering Accreditation Commission member. He holds the amateur radio license NM4SH and is an ARRL-certified volunteer examiner.