A swarming LEO network of laser-equipped satellites could unlock a powerful satcom business, but first someone’s got to build them, down to every last epoxied screw.
That’s Guchuhan (Melody) Gao’s job at Kepler Communications, where she’s one of two manufacturing engineers working on assembling, integrating, and testing the payloads for the company’s next generation optical communications satellites.
Tours of duty: The 27-year-old tried her hand in fields from forestry to medical devices before she found her calling in the space sector.
The University of Waterloo grad was previously an engineer at Mosaic, a 3D manufacturing start-up, where she saw one of the company’s printers through from design to mass production. She learned how important it is for mechanical designers to keep the challenges of production top of mind.
“That’s where I got really interested in manufacturing,” Gao said. “I spent over seven months just doing business travel, going to different plants, vendors, working on supply chain, talking to contract manufacturers overseas.”
Precision engineering: Gao’s role today stretches across Kepler, bridging the gaps between engineering, supply chain, manufacturing, and test, looking for “continuous improvement on the production flow” as the company aims to build 140 new spacecraft.
She said the high standards of space hardware, where there is little expectation of serviceability and components must survive launch and the extreme environment of space, forced a change in mindset—one surprise upon joining Kepler was when she realized that every screw in the spacecraft is “staked,” or fixed in place with epoxy.
“From consumer products, I never worried about screws falling off,” she said, laughing. “Here, you don’t want anything to be loose and become a hazard during launch.”
