Lauren Lyons

Lauren Lyons is an accomplished aerospace professional with extensive experience in the commercial space industry. She served as the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Firefly Aerospace, joining the company in August 2021.2 In this role, she was responsible for leading efforts to scale the company's infrastructure, production, and operations as Firefly moved into commercial production.2

Prior to her position at Firefly, Lyons held senior engineering positions at two other prominent space companies:

1. Blue Origin: She worked in engineering leadership roles for the Lunar Lander and Space Station programs.4
2. SpaceX: As a senior engineer and technical program manager, she played pivotal roles in the Starlink, Dragon, and Falcon 9 programs.4

Lyons' educational background includes:

• A bachelor's degree in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Princeton University, with certificates in Engineering Biology and Robotics & Intelligent Systems.15
• A master's degree in Business & Government Policy from the Harvard John F. Kennedy School of Government.15

Beyond her primary roles, Lyons has been involved in various aspects of the space industry:

• She co-hosted SpaceX launch webcasts, including the first commercial launch of astronauts to space, and was part of the Emmy Award-winning team for the SpaceX-NASA Demo-1 livestream.3
• She serves as an advisor for multiple space and climate technology startups.5
• Lyons is a mentor for programs such as the Patti Grace Smith Fellowship, Creative Destruction Lab space stream, and the Starburst / UCLA SCALE Accelerator.5
• She is a member of the XPRIZE Space Exploration Brain Trust.3

Currently, Lyons is the founder and CEO of vdot, an aerospace engineering and operations consulting firm that specializes in helping space startups execute challenging projects efficiently.4