Rick Hedrick is Co-Founder and President of Observable Space, a full-stack, vertically integrated space technology company advancing laser communications, ground-based optical sensing, and in-space systems for commercial, defense, and scientific customers.

Rick earned a BS in Physics from UCLA, where he worked at the Particle Beam Physics Laboratory, before joining Celestron as Staff Astronomer and rising to Chief Technology Officer and Senior VP, then co-founding PlaneWave Instruments in 2006.

Rick pioneered the commercialization of the corrected Dall-Kirkham (CDK) telescope design, creating a new market for off-the-shelf, high-end observatory-class telescopes and earning recognition from the Michigan Manufacturers Association as the maker of the 'Coolest Thing Made in Michigan.'

Observable Space was formed in February 2025 through the merger of Rick's PlaneWave Instruments with OurSky, combining industry-leading telescope hardware with cutting-edge software to create the world's first software-defined telescope platform, with customers including NASA and the U.S. Space Force.

Observable Space has raised $101M including a $90M Series A led by Lux Capital, secured a $94M U.S. Space Force IDIQ contract, logged 2.6M automated tasks, identified over 20M targets, and completed 84,000 hours of continuous orbital monitoring across more than 40 global ground sites.