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From landing his dream job at NASA to co-founding Planet Labs and becoming the third Australian ever to venture into space, Chris shares three lessons in reaching for the stars:

As a student, Chris Boshuizen jumped at any opportunity to find a way into the space industry. When his physics teacher, Professor Tim Bedding (BSc 鈥�88, PhD 鈥�93, GradCertEdStudies 鈥�03), asked if he would help to design a satellite as a PhD project, he didn鈥檛 hesitate.

鈥淚 learned everything I needed to know about how satellites were designed, built, funded, manufactured and tested through that project,鈥� Chris says. 鈥淚t was a never鈥搕o鈥揵e鈥搑epeated opportunity.鈥�

Professor Bedding also encouraged Chris to attend space conferences as a way of networking, and he eventually got his big break at the Space Generation Congress.

鈥淭he first year, I attended as a delegate. By the end of it, they had nominated me to run it the following year,鈥� Chris says. 鈥淭hey forgot I was a delegate because I just showed up and started pitching in.鈥� He volunteered at every Space Generation Congress for the next five years. It got him noticed. When NASA went on a hiring spree in 2007, Chris was top of mind.

As a Space Mission Architect at NASA, Chris pursued new ideas with the agenda of 鈥榞etting humanity to space鈥�. Throwing out conventional thinking on satellite technology, he and his team had the idea to replace their costly computers with off-the-shelf smartphones.聽Surprisingly, it worked.

Chris went to NASA headquarters excited about the potential. 鈥淲e got laughed out of the room,鈥� he says. But the idea was the genesis of Chris鈥檚 next pivotal career move, leaving NASA to co- found Planet Labs and launching enough satellites into space to photograph every corner of Earth, every day. Today Planet Labs is the leading provider of Earth observation data.

At 17, Chris鈥檚 initial attempt at becoming an astronaut via the Air Force ended abruptly with the discovery that he was partially colourblind. Undeterred, he found an alternative pathway into the space industry by starting his own company 鈥� which ultimately enabled him to realise his dream of space travel at the age of 44.

He says he nagged US aerospace company Blue Origin about joining a flight for years, only to be brushed off repeatedly. But in 2021 he finally got the call. 鈥淭hey said, 鈥楬ey, you鈥檝e been persistent.鈥�

鈥淥ne of my big realisations after the trip was, what if I had quit after 10 years? What if I had quit after 20 years? What if I had quit after 25 years? If you just keep going slowly, you鈥檒l get there.鈥�

After returning from space, Chris is even more determined to make space travel accessible. He has recently invested in a company that鈥檚 making inflatable space station habitats. The concept is like Planet Labs鈥� version of the International Space Station, aiming to reduce the cost of space travel by two or three zeros.

Written by Caitlin Player for聽Sydney Alumni Magazine. Photography supplied.