14 November 2025
In an absorbing STEM Live talk on 6 November, students looked to the skies – and the future – with Alia Ardron, Programme Manager at Lúnasa, who has also worked at SpaceX as a test and launch engineer.
Tiffany, Upper Sixth
Firstly, Alia introduced us to the Falcon, Starship and Dragon projects at SpaceX. We were all fascinated by the size of the Starship’s second stage when we saw a picture of it being transported on the roads. A key difference that distinguishes SpaceX from many other space companies is that it reuses the first stages of its rockets. Reusing the Falcon second stage is deemed unviable because it would require too much fuel to redirect it back to Earth, among other challenges, however, the Starship is being designed to be fully-reusable. Apart from reusing its rocket parts, SpaceX also repurposes its launch tower for Starship. We all found it very cool that the launch tower’s mechanical arms are designed to catch the first stage of the rocket for reuse.
During Alia’s time at SpaceX, her work as a test and launch engineer involved testing rocket parts before launch by refuelling the rocket, test-firing, and inspecting whether components were damaged. Testing is crucial to ensure the rockets work predictably and safely. One thing that really struck me was that it would have been the astronauts’ last time seeing their families if the rocket and escape system hadn’t been checked thoroughly and had failed to keep the astronauts safe. Hence, a lot of responsibility and pressure are placed on a launch engineer and the rest of the company to ensure the mission’s safety.
The talk inspired many questions from an enthusiastic audience, and we continued to learn from Alia’s insightful responses. An excessive number of satellites have been launched into space, and this can create a problem of space debris after they stop working. However, companies could send their end-of-life satellites into “graveyard orbit”, which prevents them from falling back towards Earth, or force them to re-enter safely. We also learnt about various satellite applications. SpaceX’s satellite network, Starlink, provides high-speed internet and was used to provide free internet in Jamaica after Hurricane Melissa. Other satellites are being used to monitor weather or test in-space inspection and servicing. Although launching rockets releases greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, SpaceX reduces the impact on the environment by reusing rocket parts. This makes rocket projects more economically viable and does less harm to the environment in comparison to the production of new rocket parts, where mining for metals specifically used for creating rockets depletes resources, and the transportation of new rocket parts between factories and the launch site would also release carbon emissions.
Alia told us that the atmosphere on site at SpaceX is incredible. Being a launch engineer at SpaceX is a very fast-paced and, at times, stressful job since launches are so frequent - on average once every few days. However, Alia affirmed that working towards a common and exciting goal makes it worthwhile. In her role as a STEM ambassador, there is no doubt that Alia has inspired us to pursue careers in science and technology.