ing across continents. She herself
is American, but married a native
of Luxembourg and has spent most
of her life in Europe. (Johnson was
born into the space industry: Her
father worked on the first communi-
cations satellites for the U.S. govern-
ment in the ’50s and ’60s.) Early on,
she built her network one by one,
by going up to any other women she
ran into at industry conferences, and
sparking a conversation. In 1992, she
helped start a more formal organiza-
tion for those few women working
in the satellite telecommunications
field in particular (the group now has
around 2,000 members).
As the space industry grew to
include more and more applica-
tions—and more and more private
sector companies—Johnson also
began mentoring and investing in
female space entrepreneurs. One
investment led to another, and today
Johnson spends much of her time
in her role as partner at Seraphim
Capital, a London-based firm which
calls itself the global leader in
“SpaceTech investment.” (Her other
primary gig is vice chair of the board
at NorthStar, a Canadian company
which tracks space debris.) At Sera-
phim, too, she’s tried to scout out fe-
male entrepreneurs specifically. And
along the path of her entire career,
she’s worked to create opportuni-
ties for her female peers to establish
themselves, and to stand out.
“There’s an unwritten rule [for
women in the industry],” she says. “If
someone asks you to do something,
like speak at a conference, and you
can’t do it, suggest another woman.”
One of the women on her “must”
list is Hélène Huby, a French-born
entrepreneur who lives in Germany,
and who met Johnson six years
ago at a space conference. The two
hit it off. Huby represents the next
generation of women in the sector—
a generation that is expanding the
horizons of space tech, fueled by the
boom in financing and the lowered
barrier to entry as the cost of launch-ing satellites, capsules, and, yes,
humans into space falls. (A decade
ago a typical launch cost $20,000
per kilogram. Today, it’s $2,000.)
Huby, who cut her teeth in the
defense and space division of aircraft
manufacturer Airbus, runs the Ex-
ploration Company, a startup work-
ing on a transportation vehicle that
can stay in orbit up to six months,
gathering and processing data from
space for what she hopes will be a
variety of customers.
Decades ago only a government
program would have had a shot at
developing such technology. Then
came the big, billionaire-backed
startups pouring money into new
innovations; SpaceX, in particular,
has dramatically lowered the cost of
space flight with its advancements
in reusable rocket launch systems.
(Here’s where I should mention that
the highest-profile woman in the
industry, SpaceX president and COO
Gwynne Shotwell, declined to speak
to me for this story.)
For entrepreneurs like Huby, there’s
a new possibility to piggyback on all
this disruption and to take advantage
of all the cost reductions people like
Musk have brought to the sector.
Of course, getting a space vehicleSingapore-based Lynette Tan says her ultimate goal is to remove the “perceived
barrier to entry” in the space industry, for both women and men.
Space for all is a big
priority. Our Earth is
suffering a lot, and
the more we have
people understanding
this and how
important space is [to
our future], the more
we will have politicians
understanding this,
too.Simonetta Di Pippo
Director, UN Office for
Outer Space AffairsPHOTOGRAPH BY JULIANA TAN