SSPI Announces the 2024 “20 Under 35” List of Young Professionals to Watch in the Coming Years

New York City, NY, September 19, 2024 – The Space & Satellite Professionals International (SSPI) today announced the seventh annual “20 Under 35” list of outstanding young space and satellite professionals age 35 and under. The honorees will be celebrated at SSPI’s 19th annual Future Leaders Celebration on October 21 during Silicon Valley Space Week, produced by SatNews publishers.

SSPI’s annual list of the “20 Under 35” features 20 employees and entrepreneurs likely to step into industry leadership roles in the future. They were selected from nominations submitted by the membership and evaluated by a panel of judges made up of many of the Mentors supporting SSPI’s student outreach programs as well as Members of the Space & Satellite Hall of Fame. At the Future Leaders Celebration, the three top-ranked members of the 20 Under 35 will be named as this year’s Promise Award winners.

“We received impressive nominations from organizations in 10 nations,” said SSPI executive director Robert Bell, “and the judges selected an outstanding group of 9 women and 11 men for this year’s ‘20 Under 35.’ That’s one more sign that our industry is leaving behind its old boys’ club culture in favor of attracting the world’s best and brightest.”

The 20 Under 35 of 2024:

  • Yaqoob Alqassab, Engineering Specialist, National Space Science Agency, Bahrain
  • Howard Chang, Assistant Chief Counsel, NASA - Goddard Space Flight Center
  • Konark Chopra, Griffin Mission Propulsion Lead, Astrobotic Technology
  • Paige Cooley, Director of Commercial Solutions, ATLAS Space Operations
  • Alberto Diago Gallardo, Director, Strategic Solutions, Mynaric
  • Alexandria (Alex) Duran, Integration & Test Lead, Viasat
  • Katie Gwozdecky, Spacecraft Operations Manager, Rocket Lab USA
  • Bryan Ho, Member of Technical Staff, Systems, MDA Space
  • Scarlett Koller, Co-Founder and CEO, Mithril Technologies
  • Ryan Kramlich, Senior GNC Engineer, Astroscale US
  • Thomas Larkin, Founder, NanTenna
  • Joseph Lyon, Senior Spacecraft NPI Applications Engineer, Planet
  • Mackenzie Mason, Engineering Manager for Space Mission Systems Structural Dynamics, Boeing
  • Jane McNicoll, Manager of Mission Management and Payload Integration, Rocket Lab USA
  • Casey McNulty, Solar Array Design Engineer III (Unit REA), Boeing
  • Katina Mruk, Associate Director of Strategy and Transactions, RKF Engineering Solutions
  • Megan Owen, Space Vehicle Systems Engineer, Stellar Solutions
  • Atilla Saadat, Spacecraft GNC Engineer, Turion Space Corp.
  • Sam Arne Whalley, Business Development Proposal Writer, Isar Aerospace
  • Bradley Williams, Acting Associate Director for Flight, Heliophysics Division, NASA Science Mission Directorate

Full profiles of the 20 Under 35 will be available shortly at www.20under35.com


About SSPI

Founded in 1983, Space & Satellite Professionals International (www.sspi.org) is on a mission to make the space and satellite industry one of the world’s best at attracting and engaging the talent that powers innovation. The space and satellite business has never seen a time of greater experimentation and disruption than we see today. Investment is the fuel for transformation, but people are the engine. SSPI helps the industry attract, develop and retain the talented people it needs to keep the engine turning. People who connect through high-profile events and gain recognition from prestigious awards. People who rely on SSPI for a broader understanding of the industry as much as for individual networking and career mentoring. From young people seeking a career path to industry veterans with wisdom to share, SSPI connects them all.

Talent, investment and opportunity flow to industries that make a difference. SSPI is the only organization that also promotes the enormous value of space and satellite through dramatic stories of our technologies and companies making a better world. Those stories overturn misconceptions about the industry that hold it back. They inspire our people and attract new ones to the industry. They help justify investment and give new customers a reason to care about our services and products. Through the stories we tell and the people we serve, SSPI inspires the growth of the US $1 trillion space economy of the future.