#14 - SpaceX Dragon Avionics with Kate Hendrix

Episode 14 features an interview with Kate Hendrix, who’s career has taken her to SpaceX, Astranis (geostationary satellites), and Luminar Technologies (LiDAR technology). Today’s episode discusses the electrical power avionics systems on the Dragon Spacecraft and what goes into developing them. In addition to avionics, we dive into a bit of SpaceX’s early history, lessons learned over the years, and how working with a spacecraft like Dragon differs from geostationary satellites (in terms of radiation, EMI, etc).

Dragon made history in spaceflight last summer as the first spacecraft developed by a private company to take astronauts to the international space station. In doing so, astronauts returned to the ISS from US soil for the first time since the end of the space shuttle program. Disclaimer: All information in this episode is considered public knowledge and therefore does not reveal any “hidden secrets” behind SpaceX’s design.