Growing space business makes it “the most exciting time” to be involved in the industry, but a CEO says private and government organizations need to do more to reach the next generation of American workers.
“I think there are opportunities for everyone to participate in the enthusiasm … [and] it’s a great opportunity for the government to really rely on the pursuit of those public-private partnerships, “said Steve Isakowitz, CEO of Aerospace Corporation and former president of Virgin Galactic, attending America’s Future Series Space Innovation Summit. held on April 6 and 7.
“We need to do more and expand the group of candidates – we need to make sure all of America has the advantage of being part of the STEM, K-12 opportunities that are out there,” he added, referring to the academic discipline that includes science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
Aerospace Corporation, headquartered in El Segundo, California, is a federally funded, nonprofit research and development center.
The corporation focuses on the analysis and evaluation of space programs for organizations, including NASA, the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center and the National Reconnaissance Bureau.
Isakowitz’s comments coincided with The Aerospace Corp’s launch of a report entitled “Developing Future Space Workers.” In the report, he stressed that he believes the space industry can be partnered with underrepresented teachers and groups.
“I think that means really looking at the curriculum that we teach our students to attract some kind of interest. We often see that when I go to elementary school there is a lot of interest in these areas and technical areas – and then they sort of drop pretty quickly when they get to high school in their high school years, ”Isakowitz said.
In addition to partnering more with educators, he said the industry should “redefine a bit of the space itself in terms of how we think about training.”
Isakowitz emphasized that internships, apprenticeships and scholarships were essential to bring students and provide them with hands-on experience.
There are some programs like this, such as The Brooke Owens Fellowship, which helps place undergraduate women in space ventures, or the Patti Grace Smith Fellowship, which helps black students find internships.
Isakowitz also stressed the importance of space organizations extending the definition of what it means to have an impact on industry.
He gave the example of his previous work, saying that on the factory doors was a whiteboard with little sayings – like “today is a big day” or “a wonderful job, everyone, to the test” – on it every morning, but none among his colleagues he knew who wrote the encouragement.
After “rushing in a bit”, Isakowitz said he found out she was “a young caregiver coming in at night”.
“You don’t have to be the head of the organization or the chief engineer to feel like you’re part of something bigger,” he said.
Space Talent, a job forum hosted by the Space Capital investment group, features more than 3,600 openings to space infrastructure companies – companies that build spacecraft, rockets and more.
These jobs include a range of disciplines, from accounting to IT, design, production and more.
A wave of investment in the last decade has given birth to a new generation of private space companies, led by Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
The private sector “really drives a lot of the changes we’re seeing in space now,” Isakowitz said, with the benefit being a new ability to attract the kind of talent and enthusiasm we need to really bring people into this. industry. “
While he and Aerospace Corp see more to do to create opportunities, Isakowitz said his company “hires people from outside the industry” and is looking for more ways to partner with educators.