When lawmakers make policies that affect every corner of the space industry, Rachel Lindbergh is in the background, helping members of Congress understand the issues they’re trying to fix.
As a space policy analyst at the Congressional Research Service, she works with lawmakers—representing all political leanings, states, and committees—to author reports on the issues that matter to them.
“When it comes to where decisions are being made, all roads come to Congress,” she said. “It’s about the impact you can make on how policymakers make a decision.”
Blast off: Lindbergh told us that her start in the space community “started with a bang (or two).” In high school, she was part of a team of students selected to fly an experiment to the ISS. The first two rockets carrying the experiment failed, but the third time was the charm: it reached space in 2016 on SpaceX’s CRS-8 mission.
“It showed me space is hard,” she said. “Conducting a spaceflight experiment was a transformative experience. It inspired me to pursue a career in space after seeing up close how agencies such as NASA, and the commercial space sector, work together to advance our knowledge of the universe.”
It’s in the details: Since joining CRS in July 2023, Lindbergh says she’s led research on a multitude of civil and commercial space topics, including safety in the commercial human spaceflight industry and global space norms.
“Rachel stands out as an indispensable resource and steadying presence. She not only brings clarity to difficult policy questions, but also provides a rare, nonpartisan voice that helps staff navigate the daily complexities and conflicts of the space sector,” Sophia Warner, a legislative assistant to Rep. Dale Strong (R-AL), wrote in her nomination of Lindbergh. “Her work is quietly, but powerfully, reshaping how decisions are made in Washington’s space policy circles.”
