Jim Benson

James William Benson (c. 1945 – October 10, 2008), also known as Jim Benson, was the founder of SpaceDev, a commercial satellite and satellite component development company, and Benson Space Company, a civilian spaceflight venture focused on commercial space tourism.

Benson spent thirty years associated with the computer field, spanning the era from the introduction of modern mainframe computers, to the dominance of the computer industry by microcomputers. Benson's partner Hal Woodward invented modern full text computer indexing and searching in 1981 based on the Federal Acquisition Regulation – the search system was called FARA (FAR Automated), and Benson exploited the new field through companies he co-founded: Compusearch, with Hal Woodward and Frank Johnson in 1984, and ImageFast of McLean, Virginia. Benson was active in the early days of Internet Relay Chat (IRC). In the early 1990s, he assembled a large collection of help files that became the predecessor to today's IRChelp.org.

Benson was a founding member of the Personal Spaceflight Federation. Benson was on the Board of Directors of the California Space Authority from 2005 to 2007 was named one of the "50 People to Watch in 2005" by San Diego magazine, and was named 2005 "Alumnus of the Year" by the University of Missouri at Kansas City. He founded the non-profit Space Development Institute, and introduced the Benson Prize for Amateur Discovery of Near Earth Objects. Benson was Vice-Chairman and private sector representative on NASA's national Space Grant Review Panel. Benson received a Bachelor of Science degree in Geology from the University of Missouri at Kansas City, in his hometown.

After a successful career as a computer industry entrepreneur, Benson decided to take on the challenge of starting a space commercialization venture. It combined his lifelong interests in science, technology and astronomy with his successful business experience.

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