Growing up, Katie Nelson’s family vacations included traveling to see space shuttle launches, or seeking out any aerospace history nearby her family’s holiday destination, driven by her dad’s interest in the commercial space sector. (She even remembers touring an airplane hangar during a trip to Aruba).
Years later, she’s turned that love of the industry into her job, working as an associate at Booz Allen Hamilton.
“My career began with a simple childhood wonder, and has since become a mission to bridge policy and technology in the commercial space sector,” she said.
Intro to space: Nelson’s early exposure to the industry led her to pursue a degree in international relations at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland—but she found that space was left out of her coursework.
“They never mentioned space, or emerging tech, or how it impacts our world,” she told Payload.
She went on to intern twice at the Commercial Space Federation, where she got a crash course in space policy, before joining Booz Allen in 2022.
Hitch a ride: As a contractor working on NASA’s rideshare program, she helps document the rideshare process to determine what is working, and what can be improved.
“The idea is to maximize the space in a fairing, and get three launches to orbit for the price of one,” she said. “It demonstrates that you can get really big science out of a small spacecraft.”
