Celebrating Women in Satellite 2026

interactive.satellitetoday.com · Feb 23, 2026 · Collected from GDELT

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2026 marks the fifth anniversary of Celebrating Women in Satellite, which has now commemorated more than 175 women in the space and satellite industry. This year’s feature honors women in roles that span across the space and satellite industry — from propulsion technology, user terminal development, satellite licensing, satellite data exploitation, to workforce development, project management, and marketing. We are also honored this feature has reached readers around the world, and highlights women from five continents. We are proud to share the stories of 50 women making a difference in the space and satellite industry, and we give a heartfelt thanks to every person who took the time to submit a nomination. Jeanne Allarie, Chief Investor Relations Officer, ExolaunchJeanne Allarie is the kind of leader every space company hopes to have when the stakes are highest. She brings a rare calm under pressure that steadies teams, reassures partners, and builds long-term confidence with investors. Whether navigating demanding launch campaigns, scaling constellation programs, or guiding Exolaunch through periods of rapid growth and market uncertainty, she has an exceptional ability to translate deeply technical realities into clear, credible narratives. Equally important is her impact on people. She is a generous mentor and an active advocate for developing the next generation of talent. Jeanne has not only helped launch hundreds of satellites into orbit, but has also helped shape a more inclusive, resilient, and forward-looking satellite industry. — Dr. Olga Stelmakh-Drescher, ExolaunchMariana Barbosa, AOCS Team Lead, Visiona Tecnologia EspacialBuilding a national satellite capability takes more than talent — it takes persistence. Mariana Barbosa has brought both, helping advance Brazil’s sovereign space industry from core algorithms to operations. After earning a Space Engineering master’s degree across Germany, Sweden, the Czech Republic, and the United States, she returned to Brazil to help a Brazilian satellite company develop national, end-to-end spacecraft capability. She helped develop Brazil’s first attitude and orbit control (AOCS) algorithms and supported VCUB1, widely described as a first domestically designed Earth-observation/data-collection satellite mission for Brazil’s private industry. Today, she continues that momentum on SatVHR. She also brings others along, mentoring and making space engineering feel achievable for the next generation. — Janio Kono, Visiona Tecnologia EspacialMarina Bayraktaroğlu, Ground Systems Engineer - Satellite Operations, Plan-S Satellite & Space Technologies In satellite operations, success is rarely about dramatic moments, it’s about the discipline to make thousands of small decisions correctly under pressure. Marina Bayraktaroğlu is the kind of ground systems engineer who turns complex missions into repeatable, verifiable execution: telemetry becomes insight, procedures become confidence, and anomalies become structured investigations with clear outcomes. What makes Marina stand out is that she combines strong electrical/electronics fundamentals with cybersecurity fluency, and she applies a quality-driven mindset shaped by earlier work in industrial QA and root-cause analysis. The result is not just “keeping satellites running,” but steadily raising the reliability culture around operations, automating what can be automated, and strengthening ground-system readiness. — Kaan Çetinkaya, Plan-S Satellite & Space TechnologiesHolly Bertrand, Founder and Chief Operating Officer, ExoAnalytic SolutionsAt ExoAnalytic Solutions, we work in small, tightly connected teams to solve hard problems that matter, including protecting national security interests, improving satellite safety, and advancing space sustainability through space domain awareness. That mission exists because Holly Bertrand helped imagine what Exo could be and then did the hard work to build it. As one of three physicists who translated deep expertise in strategic missile defense into operational satellite monitoring and tracking solutions, Holly has always led by doing, setting the tone for our “late nights, big ideas” culture. She consistently pushes ideas forward until they become real, deployable capabilities, shaping not only our technology but the people who build it. — Danielle Cleveland, ExoAnalytic SolutionsLisa Brown, Market Segment Director, Launch Vehicles & Satellites, Ensign-Bickford Aerospace & Defense (EBAD)In Lisa Brown’s role, she focuses on contract strategy, proposal discipline, schedule realism, and risk visibility — all upstream factors that directly influence satellite mission confidence. When timelines are compressed and tolerance for error is low, Lisa brings clarity and steadiness to complex, high-stakes decisions. With more than 14 years of experience across energy and aerospace, and a background in chemical engineering and strategic leadership, Lisa is known for her ability to translate complexity into actionable direction. What truly sets her apart is how she leads people. One colleague put it simply: “Lisa never ceases to amaze me with her wit and business acumen. She’s hands-on, tenacious, honest, and truly gifted.” — Stacy Routhier-Ensign-Bickford Aerospace & DefenseKristin Burke, Senior Space and Counterspace Researcher, China Aerospace Studies Institute (CASI), Air University, U.S. Air ForceKristin Burke's exceptional analytical leadership and sustained contributions to the understanding of space and satellite developments related to China are having a real impact on our national security. Her work consistently bridges technical satellite concepts with clear, actionable analysis for policymakers, military leaders, and industry stakeholders. Equally important, Ms. Burke exemplifies leadership and service within the broader space and satellite community. She is widely respected for her ability to communicate complex satellite and space issues with clarity and precision, while also mentoring and supporting the next generation of analysts and professionals. Her commitment to analytical excellence, public service, and intellectual integrity reflects the very best of the satellite field. — Dr. Brendan S. Mulvaney, Director, China Aerospace Studies InstituteCicek Cavdar, Professor and Founding Director of SMART 6GSAT Research Center in Sweden, KTH Royal Institute of TechnologyProfessor Cicek Cavdar is the director of the SMART-6GSAT Research Center, the first Swedish research center of its kind, dedicated to advancing the integration of satellite and 6G non-terrestrial networks (NTN) to enable truly global, resilient, energy-efficient connectivity. In this role, she leads large-scale, multidisciplinary research efforts that bridge academia, industry, and policy, positioning Sweden at the forefront of satellite-enabled future networks. Personally, her guidance and intellectual mentorship shaped my development as a researcher, encouraging rigorous thinking, independence, and ambition. — Siva Satya Sri Ganesh Seeram, KTH Royal Institute of TechnologyRita Chen, Deputy Program Manager, Swissto12With over a decade of experience in spacecraft integration, testing, and program management, Rita Chen has consistently demonstrated transformative, empathetic leadership in her role as deputy program manager. Having been with Swissto12 for just over a year, Rita has already made a significant impression. During her work on the Inmarsat-8 satellite program, she identified critical paths and facility conflicts, helped optimize resource allocation, and safeguarded program objectives through proactive risk mitigation strategies and responsiveness – ensuring the team always stayed on track with delivery and drove excellence on all of our projects. Rita’s technical understanding, combined with a people-centered mindset, ensures her contributions not only strengthen project delivery at Swissto12, but also exemplify the qualities needed to advance the satellite and communications industry as a whole. — Agnieska Koscielniak, head of HummingSat Platform Engineering, Swissto12 Ashwini Chikvenkatarayappa, Senior Manager, Engineering, iDirect Ashwini Chikvenkatarayappa is a senior engineering leader within the iDirect Velocity platform, where she drives teams delivering scalable, high-reliability software that supports critical satellite and network operations. She is recognized for taking ownership of structured, data-informed engineering efforts that bring together development, operations, and product stakeholders. By leading rigorous quality and failure analyses, Ashwini facilitates thoughtful technical discussions that challenge assumptions and surface systemic improvements. She brings a strong technical foundation to her leadership, supporting teams in navigating complex engineering challenges and making informed decisions. Calm and composed even in high-pressure situations, Ashwini exemplifies a collaborative, accountable leadership style that advances reliable satellite and networking platforms. — Swetha Srinivasa Raghavan, ST Engineering iDirect Catherine Heffernan Collins, Independent Contractor, Rogue Space Systems Catherine Heffernan Collins combines rare deep-space mission heritage with the practical craft of turning bold ideas into funded, flyable capability. Early in her career at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, she supported flagship planetary missions, including the Galileo Solid-State Imaging effort and the historic Shoemaker-Levy 9 impact observations. At Rogue Space Systems, she consistently translates complex national-security and commercial needs into clear technical narratives and credible work plans. In doing so, she has helped Rogue secure more than two dozen contract awards. Catherine is the person we call when a hard program decision needs both technical clarity and human wisdom. She also extends that generosity beyond Rogue, freely sharing SBIR/STTR “guru” lessons with other startups so m