Former Disney Channel star and singer Bridgit Mendler has taken on a new role as the CEO of startup Northwood Space, aiming to revolutionize the way satellite data is sent to and from space. Northwood plans to mass produce ground stations, which connect to satellites in space, to create a data highway between Earth and space. The company has already garnered significant attention from investors and is led by a team with strong engineering and space industry expertise.
Mendler is not just a talented actress and singer but has a strong background in engineering and law, having studied at MIT and Harvard Law School. Her passion for space law and experiences at the FCC’s new Space Bureau led her to co-found Northwood Space with her husband and a head of software, who have experience in engineering at Lockheed Martin.
Northwood is focused on creating a more efficient and accessible way for satellite data to reach the ground. The startup plans to mass produce ground stations in order to provide fast and reliable data transmission at a lower cost. The company aspires to make ground stations available within days, as opposed to the traditional 18-month wait time, so that satellite operators spend less time reconfiguring their networks and more time delivering data to their customers.
Northwood’s innovative approach seeks to resolve existing bottlenecks in shared ground stations, making it easier for customers to find availability. Their vision is to create a similar experience for customers to rent server capacity from cloud-computing giants like Amazon Web Services or Microsoft’s Azure, reducing the capital expenditure of building and operating their own ground stations.
The Northwood team is looking to conduct its first test connecting to a spacecraft in orbit later this year to further demonstrate the capabilities of their innovative ground stations. The ability to provide a reliable and flexible data highway between Earth and space could have far-reaching implications for the space industry, unlocking new opportunities and use cases for satellite operators.
As the CEO of Northwood Space, Mendler is confident in the future of the company and the impact it can have on the space industry. The company’s potential to transform the way satellite data reaches the ground has already attracted significant investment from high-profile venture capitalists, marking a promising start for Northwood Space’s journey.
Overall, Northwood Space is poised to play a pivotal role in reshaping the space industry, with its focus on improving access to satellite data and bringing the impacts of space closer to home.
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