International Women in Engineering Day – Daisy Richardson

Daisy Richardson works in the space industry and is looking to develop her radio knowledge.

“I’m a Junior Aerospace Engineer working at B2Space on trajectory analysis. B2Space’s main aim is to launch a rockoon, a high-altitude balloon with a rocket on board which will then be launched from the stratosphere. My main role involves looking at launch feasibility and finding trajectories to provide to the authorities. This involves looking at weather forecasts and developing software solutions to plot and calculate these trajectories based on a variety of input parameters such as mass and balloon size.

My interest in the space industry was sparked in 2018 when I was part of the winning UK CanSat team and got the opportunity to compete in the European finals in the Azores. This experience showed me just how many roles there were in the space industry. I enjoyed being a part of a fast-paced team and competing alongside teams from all over Europe.

This proved to me that this was the kind of environment I wanted to work in in the future. Throughout my degree I attended talks and conferences to keep my foot in the door and eventually landed myself an internship at B2Space in engineering Origami. I enjoyed the internship so much that I decided to stay on with the company and help develop a trajectory analysis tool.

My colleague Dave Johnson, G4DPZ is a huge inspiration and has given me a lot of confidence and support throughout my time working with him. People like Dave are invaluable in the space industry, especially to graduates like me who are unaware of all the different applications of radio to space. I have seen on the RSGB website that there are some online courses available and I am considering taking them to improve my radio knowledge.”