SSPI

In this episode of She Reaches, host Tanveer Pujara speaks with Lee Steinke, Chief Operating Officer at CisLunar Industries, Partner at Elara Nova Space Consultancy, and former Interim COO at Orbit Fab.

With experience spanning NASA, DARPA, Space Force, and the U.S. Department of Defense, Lee brings a unique perspective on how government, industry, and innovation intersect to define the next era of space operations. She led the Space Futures Workshop to explore the commercial implications of space for U.S. national security and continues to influence policy and strategy through her work with Space Force and NewSpace Nexus.

Before entering the aerospace sector, Lee built her career in the energy industry as an executive and licensed professional scientist — and today she is a published author, TEDx speaker, and advocate for advancing U.S. leadership in space.

Tune in to hear how Lee's journey from energy to aerospace reflects the power of curiosity, courage, and strategic leadership in shaping humanity's future beyond Earth.

In the third and final episode of this mini-series, we hear from Nobu Okada, Founder & CEO of Astroscale. Since establishing Astroscale in 2013, Nobu has grown the company from a one-person venture into a global organization with offices in five countries, raised over $383 million in funding, and led the company to a successful IPO.

A highly respected figure in the space industry, Nobu is a member of the International Academy of Astronautics, an advisory board member of the Space Generation Advisory Council, and a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society. He previously served as Vice President for Space Economy and Sponsorship at the International Astronautical Federation until 2023 and co-chaired the World Economic Forum's Global Future Council on Space Technologies until 2021. During his tenure, he played a key role in developing the Space Sustainability Rating, a system designed to promote responsible space operations. Under Nobu's leadership, Astroscale has received numerous accolades, including the IAF Excellence in Industry (SME) in 2023, the Japanese Prime Minister's Award in 2022, and recognition as one of TIME100's Most Influential Companies in 2022. Nobu has also received individual recognition, including the 2020 SpaceNews Company Leader of the Year and the 2019 Forbes JAPAN Start-up of The Year.

Before founding Astroscale, Nobu was an IT entrepreneur and strategy consultant, managing IT companies across Japan, China, India and Singapore. He successfully led one company to an IPO. Earlier in his career, he worked at McKinsey & Company and served in the Japanese Ministry of Finance. Nobu holds a bachelor's degree in Agriculture from the University of Tokyo and an MBA from the Krannert School of Business, Purdue University.

In this episode of The People Behind the Progress, we explore a question at the heart of every technological leap: how do you write the rules for innovation?

Few people can answer that with more insight than Mike Thompson, who has spent more than thirty-five years shaping the policies and regulatory frameworks that allow new technologies to take flight.

From the UK Radiocommunications Agency and Inmarsat to co-founding Access Partnership, Mike has helped define how spectrum is shared, how satellite networks coexist, and how global agreements are built. His work has influenced everything from Ultra Wide Band adoption to the protection of critical C-band infrastructure, from fair-play procedures at the ITU to new spectrum allocations that improved aviation and maritime safety.

In conversation with Tamara Bond-Williams, Executive Director of SSPI, Mike reflects on the diplomacy, technical understanding, and strategic patience needed to develop rules that don't restrict progress, but enable it. He shares what he has learned about aligning governments and industries, anticipating future technologies, and building trust into the very architecture of global communications.

This episode celebrates Mike's selection as a finalist for the UK Space & Satellite Personality of the Year Award, honoring a career spent ensuring that innovation has the stable, thoughtful foundations it needs to thrive.

This special mini-series, The People Behind the Progress, celebrates the finalists for the UK Space and Satellite Personality of the Year Award – A distinction that honors people whose ideas, integrity, and influence have advanced the UK's role on the global stage. In the first episode of this mini-series, we hear from Dr. Alice Bunn, President of UKspace.

Dr Alice Bunn is a globally recognised leader in science and engineering, with a distinguished career spanning strategic leadership, international diplomacy, and public engagement. Awarded an OBE in the Queen's Honours List in 2022 for her services to the UK space sector, Alice is President of the UKspace Trade Association and has a 25-year career in the space sector where she has held leadership positions in national, European and global contexts. Alice sits on the Advisory Board of Strategy International and acts as strategic advisor to a number of companies spanning the UK and international space sectors.

As former Chief Executive of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, she led a global organisation of over 115,000 members, where she successfully reversed a 15-year financial decline and implemented a transformative strategy focused on societal impact. Previously, Alice served as International Director at the UK Space Agency, where she secured record investments in the European Space Agency and pioneered new approaches to civil space security and infrastructure.

Alice is a passionate advocate for science communication and is a chartered engineer. Alice is regularly called upon as a media expert contributor to all things space and engineering, appearing on BBC, Radio 4, ITN, Sky News and in demand as a speaker at international summits and conferences such as Davos, UN Summits, TEDx and more.

Alice has a PhD in Metallurgy from Darwin College, University of Cambridge, and is also a Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and the Royal Aeronautical Society. As an avid wild swimmer, she proudly sits as the Chair of the Board at SwimTayka, a drowning prevention charity that teaches kids in developing countries to swim.

In this episode of She Reaches, host Tanveer Pujara speaks with Maureen Gannon, Co-Founder and Chief Revenue Officer of X-Bow Systems, a company redefining the rocket motor and launch vehicle market through advanced manufacturing and innovation.

With over 30 years of experience across aerospace, defense, and commercial sectors, Maureen has built a remarkable career leading high-performing teams, securing hundreds of millions in startup funding, and winning major U.S. defense contracts. As one of the few women co-founders in the solid rocket motor industry, she's not only disrupting technology — she's reshaping how leadership looks in aerospace.

Tune in to hear Maureen's entrepreneurial journey — from co-founding Galactic Unite and Firefly Space to scaling X-Bow Systems — and her insights on breaking barriers, building momentum, and fueling innovation in a high-stakes industry.

In the Movers in Our Orbit podcast series, we speak with friends of SSPI who recently made big executive moves. We'll find out what they're doing now and what they hope to achieve in their new roles in the industry. In a rebroadcast of the first episode of season 2, we hear from Kelsey Doerksen, GeoAI Postdoctoral Researcher at Arizona State University and 2021 Promise Award Recipient.

Passionate to do impactful work for Earth, in space, Kelsey Doerksen is currently pursuing her PhD at the University of Oxford in the Autonomous Intelligent Machines and Systems Centre for Doctoral Training Program, in the Oxford Applied and Theoretical Machine Learning Group under supervision of Yarin Gal. She is focusing her research on the uses of AI and Machine Learning to enable science discovery and understanding of climate-focused applications (expected graduation, 2025). Kelsey is a Research Affiliate at the NASA Jet Propulsion Lab and a part of the Machine Learning and Instrument Autonomy group, working on the Scientific Understanding from Data Science Strategic Initiative. She is also a Data Scientist with the Climate and Data Environment Unit at UNICEF, building the data pipeline infrastructure and providing analysis necessary to create the UNICEF Children's Climate Risk Index.

In Everyday Guardians, the podcast series of the Securing the Future of Space campaign, we speak with people who are helping to build a more resilient, sustainable and secure orbital environment – whether through technology, policy or ethical leadership. Securing the Future of Space is underwritten by the American Space Exploration Fund. In the fifth episode, we hear from Moriba Jah, President and Co-founder of GaiaVerse. Moriba Jah is a world-leading space environmentalist, astrodynamicist, and social justice advocate, a MacArthur Fellow and Professor of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin, where he holds the Mrs. Pearlie Dashiell Henderson Centennial Fellowship. He directs the Jah Decision Intelligence Group at the Oden Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences. He also serves as Chief Scientist at Privateer and Co-founder of Moriba Jah Universal.

From Classroom to Community – the official podcast of the Signal to Soar campaign, underwritten by Hughes, an Echostar company – shines a spotlight on the tremendous difference connectivity can make for schools, especially those isolated by terrain and other factors, and how connectivity via satellite transforms the communities that surround those schools. When a remote school connects for the first time, everything changes. Students gain access to global knowledge, and teachers tap into new tools. Families and communities begin to share in the benefits. In the third episode of our series, we hear more on this topic from Mónica Aguirre, Deputy CEO of Satellite Services at Stargroup México. Mónica holds a Bachelor's degree in Financial Management from Tecnológico de Monterrey. She spent five years working in the financial industry at Value Casa de Bolsa, Morgan Stanley Capital International, and BBVA Bancomer. In 2015, she joined the Stargroup team to lead the finance department and later took on the role of Deputy CEO, overseeing strategic projects and building partnerships with national and international providers to deliver satellite telecommunications services. These solutions are tailored for businesses and government programs aimed at narrowing the digital divide across the country.

In the sixth episode of She Reaches, host Tanveer Pujara speaks with Kirsten Bartok Touw, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of New Vista Capital, an early-stage venture firm investing in space, aerospace, and defense technology.

With a career spanning investment banking, venture capital, entrepreneurship, and national security policy, Kirsten brings a uniquely holistic view of how capital and innovation intersect to shape the future of aerospace and defense. Before launching New Vista, she co-founded AirFinance, served as Vice President of Corporate Development and Strategy at Hawker Beechcraft, and was CFO and co-founder of XOJET, later acquired by VistaJet.

Tune in as Kirsten shares her journey and how she's helping bridge Silicon Valley and national security to accelerate the technologies defining our next decade of flight, defense, and space exploration.

Satellite connectivity makes all the difference in education, and bridging the gap to deliver high-speed internet to schools in hard-to-reach places creates the opportunity for every student to soar. In this SSPI-WISE Presents podcast, based on the panel conducted at the September 25 meeting of SSPI-WISE, we hear a roundtable discussion from leaders of NIGCOMSAT who share insights on how they are advancing digital inclusion and transforming education through satellite broadband. This episode is moderated by Ruth Okoh, Founder/Managing Director of Spaceboss Aerospace Consulting Ltd., and features Engr. Florence Ibrahim, Satellite Control & Operations, NIGCOMSAT, Engr. Opeyemi Kareem – Product & Presales Engineer, NIGCOMSAT, and Ifeoma Maureen Nzekwe, Deputy General Manager & Program Coordinator, NIGCOMSAT.

This roundtable conversation is part of the Signal to Soar campaign. Whether separated by distance, infrastructure, or inequality, too many students remain disconnected from the full promise of education. Satellite connectivity helps bridge that gap, delivering high-speed internet to schools in hard-to-reach places—and bringing the world to students who are otherwise far from opportunity. From live-streaming lessons and global classrooms to virtual museum tours and cultural exchanges, satellites expand access to knowledge and connection. With the right signal, every student can soar. Click here to learn more.