women at the forefront of New Zealand's space industry
Rocket Lab project engineer Sarah Blyde is a founding member of Women in Space Aotearoa. Photo / Rocket Lab.
Sarah Blyde is now a project engineer for Rocket Lab - managing changes on the Electron launch vehicle from its initial concept until it is flying to space. Electron is a three-stage orbital rocket that has launched 146 satellites – it's the second most frequently launched US rocket. Based at the Auckland Production Complex in Mt Wellington, Blyde's job is to coordinate changes to the design of Electron. As well as launching lightweight electron orbital rockets, the company designs satellites and manufactures spacecraft software - with Rocket Lab technology on more than 1700 space missions across the world. (And the New Zealand launch site in Mahia in Hawke's Bay, is the world's first and only private active orbital launch site.) “I had an epiphany one day that while they need engineers in the petroleum industry, they also need them in the space industry,” Blyde recalls. Globally, the space industry is expected to triple by 2030.
