Why an established satellite specialist joined a space startup

In our 25th member interview, we introduce Bram, who joined our company in February.

He has been involved in space since he was a child and now is a satellite specialist involved in numerous space missions at his previous job. We asked him about his career to date and why he joined Warpspace.

When I was a child, I wanted to be an astronaut

-I heard that you have had a longing for space since you were a child. Please tell us about your background.

I was born in Belgium in 1984, and when I was 3 or 4 years old, while other children around me wanted to become firefighters or doctors, I had a dream of becoming an astronaut, inspired by my father, who had been a fighter pilot, and my grandmother, who tailored an astronaut’s suit for carnival.

Although this dream changed due to physical reasons, I continued to yearn for space and spent my childhood with a strong interest in mathematics and engineering. Space was always close to my heart, and by the time I was 14 or 15 years old, I kept thinking about the university I wanted to study at in the future, what I could do in space engineering, and how I could go to space.

After high school, I went to Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, where I studied astrodynamics and aerospace engineering. As a student up to my master’s degree, I had several opportunities to work on-site at related companies as part of my traineeship and thesis-work, especially at GMV, a Spanish aerospace operator. I continued to work with them for three years.

Mission operations experience gained at ESA

-Before joining Warpspace, you worked at ESA. What kind of work did you do?

I worked for the European Space Agency as a Senior Mission Analysis Expert and was involved in many satellite missions. The gist of it is analysing the mission’s needs and designing a scenario that enables successful mission completion. For example, which orbit do we target and which rocket do we use to get there? Which and how many resources to allocate on the satellite, which ground stations to communicate with the ground, etc., were all considered, and the entire mission was constructed and operated in a coordinated manner.

-How did you first come across Warpspace?

I first learned about Warpspace through IMS, my employer at the time. Gradually, I learned about the company’s initiatives and concept, and since I appreciated the social concept that Warpspace was aiming for, Daniele (System Engineer), whom I had met, told me about the company.

-What made you decide to jump into startups?

One of the characteristics of public space agencies such as ESA is that their organizations are inevitably vertically organized with diverse and complex layers and that academic and difficult missions take 10 to 20 years from startup to launch, and even after launch, the journey to their destination can take up to 14 years and more before commencing operation. So a full cycle from inception to end of mission can take up to 40 years. Of course not all missions take this long and I worked on multiple projects in parallel, but after more than 12 years of mission experience since I started working at ESA in 2010, I decided that I wanted to challenge myself in a different environment with shorter cycles and a more adventurous spirit, like the dreamer of my childhood.

It was around that time that I came to know about Warpspace. This company is engaged in a business where synergies can be felt with various businesses in an area where technology will continue to develop in the future. I felt that Warpspace was a company that had the great vision and energy to advance its business even in a society where business conditions change daily, and I asked to join the team.

To lead Warpspace’s mission to success

-Please tell us about your current responsibilities at Warpspace.

I am a system engineer for satellites, and I am in charge of connecting our satellites with the surrounding environment and other companies’ products to ensure maximum smooth design and operation. I believe that my experience is not limited to hardware design but also extends to assisting Warpspace in its collaboration with related companies and organizations in the U.S. and Europe.

-Having experienced many teams at ESA and elsewhere, what is your impression of the Warpspace team?

The current Warpspace team is made up of experts in their respective fields, each with their expertise and a constructive and active exchange of ideas daily. Not only are they all professionals in their respective fields but each member of the team is also an individual who agrees with the company’s vision and puts a great deal of passion and effort into their work.

That is why I would like to contribute to the development of the best standards, designs, and specifications not only for us at Warpspace but also for the market and our partners as a whole while making use of my expertise.

-What is needed to realize the vision of Warpspace?

I believe it is necessary to build strategic partnerships with all parties involved, as the company is working on right now. Especially concerning Europe, it is crucial to work with ESA as well, not only to expand our business but also to increase our visibility and strengthen our presence with other companies we work with.

In addition, in order to ensure that our optical communication platform will gain customers in the future, we will first create prototypes while closely analyzing their needs and then make repeated demonstrations and improvements. We believe it is necessary to improve our products and appeal to the market so that customers will want to use them. We believe that we are now in the needs analysis phase.

-What is the most exciting moment for you in the Warpspace business?

I am very interested in the project that Nagata-san (CTO) and Hino-san (R&D Engineer) are working on to realize communication with the Moon. I am very excited to think about a future in which seamless communication between the Earth and the Moon will be possible.

-Finally, what do you think is the most important Compass of Behavior?

It is challenging to pick one of them (laughs).

Personally, “06. Respect your crew” is important because I respect my team members. Still, in my professional capacity as a satellite engineer position, I would choose “03. Decide with fact” to build up the knowledge base in the development field. Similarly, as a start-up company, we would like to value “04. Chase one chance” in terms of seizing opportunities that do not come around so many times and giving shape to them.