Jason “Junk” Wilson brings 20 years of physics-based modeling and operational leadership to this Space Domain Awareness panel. As Senior Vice President at Orion Space Solutions, he leads a team developing ionosphere, thermosphere and magnetosphere models for US Space Force, NASA, NOAA and AFRL. His methods merge data assimilation, ionosonde sensing and satellite-drag simulation to forecast space weather impacts—such as scintillation, satellite drag events and radiation surges—that can cripple commercial satellite service.
A U.S. Air Force Academy applied-physics graduate, with an MBA from Colorado, and a USAF Weapons School graduate, Junk flew F-15s and F-117s for 1,500+ flight hours, mastering electro-optical and IR sensor performance under degraded environmental conditions. As Special Technical Operations Chief at Joint Task Force Pakistan and NORAD, he led mitigation of space-environment programs and war game scenarios. After transitioning to industry, he built the “Military Application of the Space Environment (MASE)” modeling capability under Space Systems Command. At Orion/Arcfield, he executed multiple programs applying coupled models to forecast operational hazards, especially storm-related satellite drag, for commercial operators.
Junk’s work underpins current industry standards in space-weather resilience and drag modeling. His team’s model output powers commercial traffic coordination platforms and satellite risk analytics. A frequent speaker at global space-weather workshops and co-author of ionosonde-based observation simulation papers, he’s both a technical authority and an industry expert on the business of Space Weather. Junk brings the unmatched blend of strategic, high-risk flight ops and physics-informed environmental modeling needed by commercial space to navigate tomorrow’s storms.