SSPI Podcast

This is the podcast of the Space & Satellite Professionals International. On this channel, we release podcasts in three series: Better Satellite World, Making Leaders and SSPI-WISE Presents.

Better Satellite World episodes feature conversations with people whose work in space & satellite make a stronger economy, a better society and a more sustainable planet. They demonstrate why space technology is indispensable to modern life.

SSPI’s Making Leaders program is dedicated to building the human capital and leadership strength of the space and satellite industry. Podcasts feature interviews with leaders on their own career paths and the essentials of hiring, managing and leading others.

SSPI-WISE (SSPI Women in Space Engagement) is a global network supporting those who identify as women in space and satellite, and their allies. Podcasts feature interviews with women leaders in the industry on topics ranging from career building to mentorship and elevating fellow women throughout the space & satellite sectors.

SSPI releases a new podcast every Monday.

SSPI podcasts are made possible with the support of our Corporate Partners:

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Featured Podcasts

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Adileh for the WIN!

How does a young woman from Pakistan grow up to become an influential community builder inside a global corporation like Hughes Network Systems? In this episode of the SSPI-WISE Presents podcast, SSPI’s Tamara Bond-Williams speaks with Adileh Sharieff, Senior Director Planning and Strategic Programs. In addition to her professional achievements at Hughes, Adileh co-founded a small group called BYOL (Bring Your Own Lunch) in January 2023, which grew into a thriving community of over 200 women by the end of the year. In June 2024, she was invited to join the Hughes Women Impact Network (WIN) coordinator leadership team, where she has focused on building a supportive and empowering community for women within the company.

^{Sponsored by Hughes Network Systems}

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Movers in Our Orbit, Season 2

In this podcast series, we speak with friends of SSPI who recently made big executive moves. We’ll find out what they’re doing now and what they hope to achieve in their new roles in the industry. In the first episode of season 2, we hear from Kelsey Doerksen, Data Scientist with the Climate and Data Environment Unit at UNICEF and 2021 Promise Award Recipient. Passionate to do impactful work for Earth, in space, Kelsey is currently pursuing her PhD at the University of Oxford in the Autonomous Intelligent Machines and Systems Centre for Doctoral Training Program, in the Oxford Applied and Theoretical Machine Learning Group under supervision of Yarin Gal. She is focusing her research on the uses of AI and Machine Learning to enable science discovery and understanding of climate-focused applications (expected graduation, 2025).

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Accelerate Action

The space & satellite industry is more dynamic than ever, with professionals moving across sectors and roles at an accelerated pace. At SSPI, this has brought in a wave of new leadership, including a remarkable milestone: as of last year’s election, four of our newest Board Directors are women. To celebrate this moment and International Women’s Day, this podcast explores their perspectives and dive deeper into topics such as leadership, vision and the future of SSPI and SSPI-WISE. Newly appointed SSPI Executive Director Tamara Bond-Williams speaks with Kidsan Barnes, Senior Vice President, Maritime, Cruise & Ferry at Quvia, Lisa Henke, Chief of Technology & Innovation, USG at Maxar Intelligence and Tina Ghataore, Chief Revenue Officer at Aerospacelab and SSPI-WISE Chair and Board Liaison.

^{Sponsored by SES}

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Dr. David Parker FRAeS, 2024 Satellite Personality of the Year

The United Kingdom’s robust and ambitious space sector has many personalities. Each year at the Better Satellite World Awards Dinner in December in London, the SSPI UK Chapter recognizes one of them as the Satellite Personality of the Year. In this podcast, we hear from the 2024 honoree, Dr. David Parker FRAeS, Non-Executive Board Member of the UK Space Agency and Visiting Professor at the University of Southampton. Dr. David Parker has led a distinguished thirty-five-year career in the space sector, spanning industry, UK government and the European Space Agency (ESA). Until June 2023, he served as ESA’s Director of Space Exploration at ESTEC in the Netherlands, overseeing astronaut missions to the International Space Station, Europe’s involvement in Artemis and pioneering projects like training an astronaut with a physical disability.