Stephen Attenborough is the commercial director for Virgin Galactic – a subsidiary of Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group – which is on track to become the world's first passenger-carrying commercial spaceline.

Attenborough joined Virgin Galactic as the company's first full-time employee in 2004. Tasked with putting into place the commercial foundations of the business and creating a new market for private space travel, he now leads the company’s brand management, sales, marketing and communications, customer relations, education and outreach efforts in addition to managing partnerships that are facilitating further investment in research and science-related applications of space vehicles. This work has now attracted around 700 Future Astronauts from 60 countries along with $80m in deposits.

Prior to joining Virgin Galactic, Attenborough worked for Gartmore Investment Management – a London-based investment management firm, where he served in management and senior management capacities for more than 15 years. He now splits his time between Sussex and London, and enjoys spending time in the Mojave desert.

Innovation, Space, Business, Sales, Public Relations, Futures, Business Leadership, Leadership, Technology,