Luis Torres, MBA
Luis Torres, MBA is the Founder and CEO of Torres Orbital Mining (TOM), a spacetech startup developing autonomous excavation and infrastructure systems for lunar and terrestrial applications. He is a Mechanical Engineer with more than a decade of experience in terrestrial mining and heavy industries, with work spanning aggregates, frac sand, and material handling across operations in the United States and Mexico.
His background includes field execution, equipment deployment, and project development in dust-intensive, safety-critical mining environments — experience he is now translating into the design of robotic systems for sustainable lunar resource extraction.
Luis founded Torres Orbital Mining in 2024 to make frontier environments operationally viable rather than merely exploratory, working at the intersection of engineering, policy, and systems design. The company is incorporated as a U.S. C-Corp, registered in SAM.gov, and is a member company of Greentown Labs in Houston, the climatetech incubator colocated in Houston and Boston. Read Meet Our Members: Introducing Greentown’s Newest Startups of Q4 2025.
TOM’s technical approach centers on a dual-stage modular autonomous excavation system with integrated dust mitigation. The team is developing this technology for application both on Earth and on the lunar surface. Luis was the featured guest on the August 14, 2025 episode of the T-Minus Space Daily podcast hosted by Maria Varmazis, The US eases space license and permit approvals. where he discussed Torres Orbital Mining and the company’s approach to lunar resource extraction.
Listen to The US eases space license and permit approvals, the August 14, 2025 episode of the T-Minus Space Daily podcast in which Luis discusses TOM’s methodology and prototype testing in detail.
Luis was recognized by the Moon Village Association (MVA) with a Special Award for Lunar Game Changer at the 2025 MVA Moon Market Annual Award, where TOM was cited for its uniquely innovative dual-stage modular autonomous excavation system with integrated dust mitigation, in the lunar markets of resources extraction, in-situ resource utilization (ISRU), and environment control. Read WINNERS – 2025 MVA Moon Market Annual Award – 3rd Edition.
He has been invited to present TOM’s work at the International Space Development Conference (ISDC) hosted by the National Space Society, appearing on the Moon track of the 2026 program in McLean, Virginia. TOM has also engaged with the European space-resources community, participating in Space Resources Week 2025 in Luxembourg. Read Reflecting on Space Resources Week 2025 on TOM’s blog.
In addition to leading TOM, Luis serves as U.S. National Coordinator for the Moon Village Association, the Vienna-based non-governmental organization that operates as a global forum for stakeholders working toward sustainable lunar exploration and settlement. He was appointed to the role in June 2025 and contributes to coordination across the MVA’s working groups and U.S.-based partner network.
He is also Interim Treasurer of the ASME Dallas–Fort Worth Section of The American Society of Mechanical Engineers and serves as a Member-at-Large within the broader ASME volunteer structure, contributing to standards, coordination, and professional engagement across the engineering ecosystem. In March 2025, Luis was awarded third place in the Old Guard Graduate Student Video Competition at the ASME E-Fest Tech Connect, one of ASME’s signature programs for graduate-level technical communication.
Before founding TOM, Luis was Project Engineer and Project Manager at Covia Corporation between 2022 and 2024, where he led project management, estimation, and design for aggregate, sand processing, transportation, and storage at Covia’s plants throughout the United States. His responsibilities included mechanical and structural design for conveyors, silos, crushing, screening, and dewatering structures, as well as supplier and contractor evaluation.
Between 2017 and 2022, he was an Engineer at Crisp Industries in Bridgeport, Texas, a long-established builder of aggregate material handling and frac sand systems, where he produced 2D and 3D plant drawings, performed structural and mechanical sizing calculations, and prepared layout drawings and bid packages.
Earlier in his career, Luis spent five years at Fimsa, first as a Mechanical Design Engineer and then as Engineering Coordinator between 2014 and 2017, leading planning and scheduling of the engineering department in alignment with ISO 9001:2008 and the verification and design of mechanical components for material handling equipment per NTC, AISC, AWS, and CEMA standards.
He began his career as a Mechanical Design Engineer at Gallegos Trailers in 2012 and as a product engineering intern at JOPER SA DE CV between 2011 and 2012, where he worked on oil-transport pipe designs to applicable standards and technical regulations.
Luis earned his Master of Business Administration at Rice Business — Jones Graduate School of Business, in 2026. He completed the Engineering Project Management Specialization offered by Rice through Coursera in 2023. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Electromechanical Engineering, with a specialty in Automation, from Instituto Tecnológico Superior de Lerdo in Ciudad Lerdo, Durango, Mexico, between 2008 and 2012. He is a Project Management Professional (PMP) and a Certified SOLIDWORKS Professional (CSWP).
His early publications include Alternativas para generar energía in Revista Integridad (January 2012) and Helice Cónica para Generadores Eólicos. a research paper on the design and mathematical modeling of a first prototype wind turbine with a conical helix base structure, published in the proceedings of the 1er Congreso Nacional de Electromecánica y Electrónica. Luis is based in the Dallas–Fort Worth Metroplex and works in both English and Spanish.
Visit his LinkedIn profile and the Torres Orbital Mining homepage.