Katherine Melbourne knew she was hooked on space policy when she found herself writing comments on proposed space policy rules in her free time.
In an environmental law class for her master’s degree at the University of Colorado Boulder, she discovered that any citizen could comment on proposed rules—and could sign up to be notified when space agencies published proposed rules.
“When the FAA released theirs on launch vehicle debris mitigation…I decided to write one just for fun,” she told Payload. “You had all these companies, and then a few random comments, and then my 10-page random paper.”
Getting started: Melbourne is now a policy analyst at The Aerospace Corporation’s Center for Space Policy and Strategy. She first fell in love with space at her local amateur astronomy club in Iowa. That led her to Yale University, where she studied astrophysics and leveraged her space passion for a summer in Chile studying exoplanets. However, she wasn’t sold on a career in space science.
“My enthusiasm for the technical work felt like only half the story,” Melbourne said. “I took a semester off to intern at NASA’s Office of International and Interagency Relations. Facilitating NASA’s relationships with space programs around the world showed me that space policy and diplomacy is as critical to the future of the field as the next technological breakthrough.”
Cross cutting: Melbourne said she loves looking for solutions to space-focused problems outside of the industry. That was on full display during work she presented at the International Astronautical Congress last month, where she looked at how safety standards for autonomous vehicles could be applied to space traffic management.
Apple of my Ike: Melbourne is a formal mentor to aspiring space industry professionals through the Zed Factor Fellowship, and offers more informal mentorship to those looking to enter the industry. She also volunteers as a docent at the Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial in DC, sharing Eisenhower’s space legacy—including being president during Sputnik—with visitors.
