Robin Dickey had always loved space after being raised by two aerospace engineers, but as a self-proclaimed “artsy kid,” she didn’t see a place for her in the space community.
But during a fellowship where participants were debating national security in the Middle East, a lightbulb went off when no one mentioned space.
“I thought, maybe I should do space policy if I’m mad about policy people not caring enough about space,” the 27-year-old told Payload.
First steps: After graduation, Dickey worked for the Aerospace Corporation as a space policy and strategy analyst. In that role, Dickey was tasked with translating between engineers and policy experts to ensure the two facets of the space community were on the same page. While she was helping make space more understandable to a broader audience, she also sought to make sure people knew that space wasn’t this unimaginable frontier beyond the need for policy.
“I spent more than five years trying to explain that space is unique in many ways, but space is not Narnia,” she said. “Getting that across has been a big goal of mine.”
To Washington: In May, Dickey moved to Capitol Hill as a legislative assistant in the House of Representatives, saying that after years of analyzing policy, she wanted to try crafting it first hand.
Allison McNeill, a senior associate at Pallas Advisors, called Dickey “probably the most technically-savvy MLA on the Hill right now under 30. She’s been an adjunct associate fellow at CNAS, worked at the Aerospace Corporation, and has now taken her talents to Capitol Hill (and the armed services committee no less) where she is poised to transform our space policy for the better.”
