Jane McNicoll
Jane McNicoll began her career at SpaceX after completing a double degree in Physics and Astronomy at the University of Washington. She worked on SpaceX’s nascent Starlink project as a Systems Engineer and played a critical role in the launch campaigns of the first two Starlink satellites. Jane joined Rocket Lab USA as a Mission Manager, where she immediately distinguished herself by co-managing or managing approximately one-third of the company’s fifty launches to date. These included missions for U.S. government parties, including the U.S. army SMDC, NASA and the National Reconnaissance Offices (NRO), as well as for U.S. commercial industry leaders such as Blacksky and General Atomics and international startups such as Synspective, Inc. and i-QPS of Japan. Rocket Lab’s first U.S. government mission for the NRO from US soil was particularly complex, as it required additional mission assurance and security protocols to be established for a new launch site at Launch Complex 2 in Wallops, Virginia. The mission integration process began in 2021 with the NRO and their partners and led to a successful launch in March 2023. Jane also managed the two TROPICS missions for NASA and MIT Lincoln Labs, which were back-to-back missions launched within days of each other. It was critical that the four satellites be launched prior to the 2022 hurricane season to collect critical storm data, and Jane successfully executed an expedited mission integration campaign for the satellites to complete a normally twelve-month process in only six.
Jane was promoted to her current position as Manager of Mission Management and Payload Integration in 2023 in recognition of her achievements and now leads an eight-person team responsible for managing all Electron missions and soon-to-be Neutron missions for the company. She was responsible for nearly doubling the size of the team to its current eight members over a period of only five months, which was critical to meet the increasing demands of Rocket Lab’s Electron orbital and HASTE missions. In her current role, Jane provides support across all missions at Rocket Lab, as well as interfacing with the internal executive team to plan and execute the launch manifest for the next year and beyond. Jane also serves as the key technical author on proposals for new business capture at Rocket Lab. She is often called upon to represent Rocket Lab at public events or broadcasts. Jane has co-hosted launch livestreams on YouTube and accepted Rocket Lab’s Astro Award in Austin, Texas for the NASA TROPICS missions in 2023.
Outside of work responsibilities, Jane serves as a Space Ambassador in Rocket Lab’s outreach program, visiting local schools and hosting groups of students at Rocket Lab to educate them on rocketry and Rocket Lab’s mission. While working as a Space Ambassador, she connected with a local high school in Long Beach, California, Cabrillo High School, where she joined the Cabrillo Engineering and Design (CED) program as an advisory board member. Jane supports the CED program by weighing in on curriculum requirements for the program and supports students during outreach and internal milestone events, such as Senior Capstone presentations. In 2023, she was a speaker during the Cabrillo High School International Women’s Day event and is currently working to set up a women’s mentorship program with the Girls in Engineering Math and Sciences (GEMS) club at Cabrillo.
