James Crawford
Founder of Orbital Insight.
James Crawford founded Orbital Insight in 2013, applying machine learning and computer vision to satellite, drone, and geolocation data for defense/intelligence and commercial analytics. He holds a PhD and MS in Computer Science from the University of Texas at Austin and a BA in Math/CS from Rice University. Before Orbital Insight he worked on AI systems at Bell Labs; led NASA Ames Research Center's Autonomy and Robotics group (~100 researchers, including Mars rover work); was Engineering Director of Google Book Search; served as CTO of Moon Express; and was SVP of Science and Engineering at The Climate Corporation through its $1B acquisition by Monsanto.
Overview
- Role
- Founder
- Based in
- Palo Alto, CA
- Prior experience
- Bell Labs, Google (Google Books), The Climate Corporation, Moon Express, NASA Ames Research Center
Affiliated funds0
No linked records yet.
Frequently asked
- Who is James Crawford?
- James Crawford founded Orbital Insight in 2013, applying machine learning and computer vision to satellite, drone, and geolocation data for defense/intelligence and commercial analytics. He holds a PhD and MS in Computer Science from the University of Texas at Austin and a BA in Math/CS from Rice University. Before Orbital Insight he worked on AI systems at Bell Labs; led NASA Ames Research Center's Autonomy and Robotics group (~100 researchers, including Mars rover work); was Engineering Director of Google Book Search; served as CTO of Moon Express; and was SVP of Science and Engineering at The Climate Corporation through its $1B acquisition by Monsanto.
- What is James Crawford's role?
- James Crawford is Founder, based in Palo Alto, CA.
- Where did James Crawford work before?
- James Crawford's prior roles include Bell Labs, Google (Google Books), The Climate Corporation, Moon Express, NASA Ames Research Center.
Sources & citations2
Each claim links to its underlying source. Confidence reflects how directly the source supports the claim.
- 1
James Crawford founded Orbital Insight in 2013, having earlier worked on AI at Bell Labs, Google Books, and NASA's Mars rover project; PhD/MS Computer Science, UT Austin; BA Math/CS, Rice.
SatMagazine: Dr. James Crawford is the Founder and CEO of Orbital InsightReported2026-07-20 - 2
Crawford led autonomy/robotics research at NASA Ames, was SVP Science & Engineering at Climate Corporation through its acquisition by Monsanto, CTO of Moon Express, and Engineering Director of Google Book Search before founding Orbital Insight.
Wikipedia: Orbital InsightReported2026-07-20