Passport to Space | Susmita Mohanty and Maya Nasr

Dr Susmita Mohanty is a pioneering space entrepreneur and advocate for space exploration known for her leadership in the field of commercial spaceflight. She began her career with NASA and Boeing, and is the only entrepreneur in the world to have co-founded three space companies on three different continents. As the co-founder and CEO of Earth2Orbit, India’s first space start up, and co-founder of India’s first space think tank SARABHAI (S2), she has played a key role in advancing India's space industry and promoting international collaboration in space research and exploration.

Dr Maya Nasr is a remote sensing scientist at the US Environmental Defense Fund and Harvard University focusing on space mission planning for in-orbit calibrations. She has contributed to the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover mission, Cassini’s mission activity on Titan, and with OneWeb. Nasr holds expertise in spacecraft operations, engineering systems, technology strategy, and space law and policy.

Dr Isabelle Kingsley is a renowned authority on gender equity with a PhD in impact evaluation. She is the founder and director of Loupe Consulting which specialises in gender equity, diversity and inclusion (GEDI) advise, implementation and evaluation. Kingsley's advisory contributions extend globally, impacting UN Women, APEC, Australia’s Chief Scientist and Australia's governmental bodies.