BusinessTravel

Payload Pioneers 2023: Owen Marr

Owen Marr, a Blue Origin systems engineer working on New Shepard, is driven to make space accessible to all.

“I work every day to increase New Shepard’s accessibility and thus humanity’s access to space,” Marr said. “This mentality that our spacecraft should be capable of flying anyone to space, regardless of ability level is what drives me to continue working on making New Shepard more and more accessible.” 

We the people: Outside of work, Marr spends a lot of time spreading excitement about space to officials and peers alike.

As a Future Space Leaders fellow, Marr will visit DC several times over the next year to pitch the importance of space to leaders in the nation’s capital. He is also chair of Students for the Exploration and Development of Space USA’s Young Professional Advisory Board, and participates in multiple mentorship programs with both Blue Origin and the University of Michigan, his alma mater.

On the airwaves: During his academic years, Marr amplified space awareness as the head of SEDScast, a podcast that released 44 episodes and got tens of thousands of plays between 2020 and 2021. 

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