{"id":260399,"date":"2025-11-13T12:07:11","date_gmt":"2025-11-13T12:07:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/260399\/"},"modified":"2025-11-13T12:07:11","modified_gmt":"2025-11-13T12:07:11","slug":"your-software-should-be-space-grade-take-it-from-an-aerospace-operations-engineer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/260399\/","title":{"rendered":"Your software should be space-grade \u2014 take it from an aerospace operations engineer"},"content":{"rendered":"

The internet started<\/a> as a Department of Defense-funded military project in 1969. Today, it\u2019s in the pockets of 100% of smartphone owners and accessed by 68% of the world\u2019s population<\/a>. Space travel started as a postwar race between the governments of America and the Soviet Union to put people on the Moon in the 1950s-\u201960s. Today, celebrities and wealthy citizens can purchase tickets to go on space flights.<\/p>\n

When it comes to technology that powers high-stakes industries, why not shortcut the arc of innovation and start with space-grade software from takeoff?<\/p>\n

I\u2019m speaking as both a mission operations engineer and a founder when I say that the business world and our everyday lives increasingly rely on software platforms to bring order to complexity. As engineers, our job is to figure out the best ways to apply technology and tools to fix complex problems. We\u2019re focused on critical issues playing out in the digital and physical worlds.<\/p>\n

It doesn\u2019t get more physical than aerospace, and it doesn\u2019t get more high-stakes than SpaceX<\/a>. I know. I spent over 10 years as a member of SpaceX\u2019s mission operations team in charge of pioneering innovation in the aerospace industry.<\/p>\n

In the early days, we got a directive to push for mission success, then keep pushing towards the next mission, and the next. And building aircraft, satellites, rockets, and other hardware needs software to support getting from idea to launchpad. The problem? The very software that makes missions possible can make an operations engineer\u2019s tasks harder.<\/p>\n

As one of the first members of the Dragon spacecraft<\/a>\u2019s operations team, I saw SpaceX\u2019s leadership grow within the commercial space industry firsthand. The\u00a0 obstacles we had to meet in the control room never got easier, from our first mission in 2010 to the delivery of the first commercial astronauts<\/a> to the International Space Station (ISS) in 2020.<\/p>\n

Despite the scale of the problems we solved, we still were challenged by fragmented processes and disconnected workflows \u2014 some of which included the very same tools you might find in an everyday office, like multiple PDFs, disparate spreadsheets, and physical checklists. We were able to patch some of these siloed processes and workflows over time, but the difficulty lay at the core: our systems weren\u2019t altogether connected, meaning our solutions would always be limited stopgaps if the larger, structural issue went unaddressed.<\/p>\n

This wasn\u2019t a SpaceX-only problem, either. It was an industry-wide, dangerous divide between what the software provides and what the team actually needs.<\/p>\n

We can close that gap today. We need more tools made for space by talented software engineers and fewer mechanical engineers building mission-critical software tools. That way, mechanical engineers have the ability to turn their attention to the tasks in front of them:\u00a0 ensuring the world\u2019s most time-critical and high-stakes activities, like managing nuclear energy or launching an aircraft filled with humans into space, can run safely.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve seen firsthand how much professionals in industries like space, aviation, mining, and defense depend on software to keep projects running smoothly. Whether we\u2019re designing a vehicle destined for a faraway planet or coordinating thousands of airline patterns, each step is tracked, tested, and managed through software. And for tasks like these, the margin for error isn\u2019t just thin\u2014it\u2019s nonexistent.<\/p>\n

All companies from Fortune 500s to stealth startups remain confined to a life of patching together workflows using spreadsheets, shared folders, and fragmented tools. But in mission-critical industries, \u201cgood enough\u201d just isn\u2019t good enough. And in 2025, that\u2019s just about every industry.<\/p>\n

If we don\u2019t prioritize streamlined, top-tier software, we risk repeating incidents like a radar screen blackout<\/a> at Newark Airport this past May. The issue was attributed to a brief telecommunications outage, but its impact stretched beyond the 90 seconds the radar screens went dark. The FAA halted incoming air traffic with a ground stop, compounding delays created by staffing shortages resulting from a separate outage the previous month.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

And, at the time of the outage, an air traffic controller could be heard communicating to a nearby flight: \u201cScopes just went black again.\u201d Key word: again. We can\u2019t keep putting operators in this position, over and over, by giving them no option other than antiquated, disconnected software. The public\u2019s trust\u2014and safety\u2014relies on us doing better.<\/p>\n

That starts by building software with the highest engineering standards and principles that guide how the world\u2019s most prolific innovators, rocket scientists, and engineers design, then extend them to other industries with critical, complex operations like aviation, manufacturing, or defense.<\/p>\n

The truth is, the systems we engineer and bring to market are only as strong as the software that supports them. Whether you\u2019re launching rockets, modernizing medical operations, or testing cutting-edge defense programs, missions across industries operate at a level where failure carries enormous cost\u2014sometimes financial, sometimes human. If the software that powers these projects isn\u2019t ironclad, intuitive, and resilient, then it\u2019s a weak point in the entire system\u2014and an exploitation opportunity for nefarious actors and, increasingly, automated attackers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As engineers or business leaders operating in high-stakes industries, we must accept that operations software should be as bulletproof as the systems it supports. It must provide full traceability and visibility. It should adapt to complex workflows, not the other way around.<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s software needs to prevent problems from happening, not proliferate them or self-destruct. In practical terms, that means building platforms with a keen eye toward version control, real-time collaboration, auditable histories, and data security.<\/p>\n

Getting there, however, requires considering more than by-the-numbers requirements. During my time at SpaceX, we had the opportunity to build custom, in-house operational tools. On paper, our initial concepts were excellent. But, in practice, we needed to prioritize the end-user. And incorporating usability testing with non-technical subjects revealed momentary human behaviors, like eye and scan patterns, that would buy operators critical split seconds when making mission-critical decisions.<\/p>\n

So, by \u201cspace-grade,\u201d I don\u2019t mean overly complex or only for aerospace. I\u2019m talking about elegant software: blending operational rigor with human-centered design to create unified platforms and tools capable of supporting complex, consequential operations in any industry.<\/p>\n

Teams in defense, energy, nuclear fusion, and advanced manufacturing thrive with the same capabilities we once reserved only for spacecraft. Why not apply that to accounting, customer service, or legal industries?<\/p>\n

Success, in any mission, starts with a solid foundation. And today, that foundation is software. The right platform doesn\u2019t just make your team more efficient or your company stand out from competitors\u2014it makes your operation safer, more accountable, and more prepared for the unexpected.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s raise the bar for tools, platforms, and software powering our world and the exploration of our galaxy. Both stand to thrive if we can achieve space-grade innovation across engineering contexts.<\/p>\n

Holding software to the standard you\u2019d hold spacecraft engineering in terms of durability, security, and practicality not only levels up each mission, but can create new industry standards of excellence for a more resilient tomorrow.<\/p>\n

The opinions expressed in Fortune.com commentary pieces are solely the views of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of\u00a0Fortune.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The internet started as a Department of Defense-funded military project in 1969. Today, it\u2019s in the pockets of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":260400,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[2690,4679,90,4863,416,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-260399","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-space","8":"tag-aerospace","9":"tag-engineering","10":"tag-science","11":"tag-software","12":"tag-space","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom","15":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260399","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=260399"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260399\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/260400"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=260399"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=260399"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=260399"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}