36th Jenkin lecture: 21st Century Spaceflight

21st Century Spaceflight

Bala Ramamurthy will deliver an overview of current developments and trends in spaceflight.

A cocktail of influences - the internet, open-source software, the commercial availability of parts, and concepts borrowed from other industries - has reshaped the trajectory of how we build and fly spacecraft today. At the same time, tackling physical challenges like increasing the amount of mass delivered to orbit, managing complex interacting systems, and new missions keep the stakes high and the field ripe for innovation.

Balachandar Ramamurthy is an engineer and entrepreneur. He is an Executive in Residence with the Saïd Business School, collaborating on the Smart Space initiative. He is the former Director of Flight Safety at SpaceX and served as the launch chief engineer for NASA Crew Demo-2, the United States' return to human spaceflight. He led the human rating of the Falcon 9 launch vehicle. He co-founded a company to put antimatter to work and led the design of a lunar lander. He is a recipient of the Karman Fellowship, the Eagle Manned Mission Award, the Dr. Robert H. Goddard Memorial Trophy, and the NASA Exceptional Public Service Medal.