Mandy Vaughn (née Chambers) is an American

aeronautical engineer Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is sim ...

. She was President of

Virgin Orbit Virgin Orbit is a company within the Virgin Group which launch service provider, provides launch services for small satellites. On January 17, 2021, their ''LauncherOne'' rocket successfully reached orbit for the first time, and successfully dep ...

's sister company,

VOX space Vox (Latin for 'voice') may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional characters * Vox (DC Universe character), Mal Duncan * Vox, several characters in the anime series '' Lagrange: The Flower of Rin-ne'' * Gleeman Vox, from the ''Ratch ...

Early life and education

Vaughn began flying aged 11 and earned her pilots license aged 18. She studied mechanical engineering at

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

(MIT). She stayed at

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...

for her graduate studies and earned a master's degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics in 2002. At

, Vaughn went through the Reserve Officers Training Course (ROTC). Whilst at

Vaughn relaunched the skydiving club, and has since completed more than 700 sky dives.

Career

In 2000 Vaughn joined the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part ...

. She joined Hill Air Force Base as a developmental engineer in the intercontinental ballistic missiles system program office in 2002. From 2004 she worked at the

Los Angeles Air Force Base Los Angeles Air Force Base (LAAFB) is a United States Space Force Base located in El Segundo, California. Los Angeles Air Force Base houses and supports the headquarters of the United States Space Force's Space Systems Command (SSC), which w ...

in the

Space Superiority Systems Directorate The Space Superiority Systems Directorate at Los Angeles Air Force Base includes the "Space Situational Awareness Group" and the "Counterspace Group". Mission Their mission is to "develop, deliver, and sustain" capabilities that "ensure space s ...

. Vaughn worked with the General Dynamics Mission Systems Space and Intelligence directorate, where was responsible for space control and investment portfolios. In 2015 Vaughn joined

as Senior Director of Business Development. She created the business program for

LauncherOne LauncherOne is a two-stage orbital launch vehicle developed and flown by Virgin Orbit that began operational flights in 2021, after being in development from 2007 to 2020. It is an air-launched rocket, designed to carry smallsat payloads o ...

for commercial and government clients. Vaughn is a member of the

National Space Council The National Space Council is a body within the Executive Office of the President of the United States created in 1989 during the George H. W. Bush administration, disbanded in 1993, and reestablished in June 2017 by the Donald Trump administrat ...

's User Advisory Group. She was appointed director of VOX Space in 2017. In November 2017 the first Defence Department agency account was announced. VOX Space focus on servicing government contracts for

. Vaughn has climbed

Kilimanjaro Mount Kilimanjaro () is a dormant volcano in Tanzania. It has three volcanic cones: Kibo, Mawenzi, and Shira. It is the highest mountain in Africa and the highest free-standing mountain above sea level in the world: above sea level and a ...

and

Aconcagua Aconcagua () is a mountain in the Principal Cordillera of the Andes mountain range, in Mendoza Province, Argentina. It is the highest mountain in the Americas, the highest outside Asia, and the highest in the Southern Hemisphere with a summi ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vaughn, Mandy Living people American women engineers American mechanical engineers MIT School of Engineering alumni United States Air Force Academy alumni Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American women