Prominent SpaceX engineer who worked on Starlink is leaving the company

Sara Spangelo, the Senior Director of Satellite Engineering for Elon Musk's SpaceX is leaving the company.

She played a key role in SpaceX’s fast-growing Starlink service and is leaving the company at a time when it is working on expanding its direct-to-cell messaging initiative beyond the US and New Zealand.

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“After 3 years at SpaceX, and 5 years at Swarm, I’m on to my next adventure! I’m proud of what the teams achieved both with Starlink’s Direct to Cell program and Swarm, bringing ubiquitous connectivity to the world, and know the teams will continue to have a tremendous global impact,” she wrote in a post on X.

She added that she will be focusing on the energy sector next, with a particular focus in nuclear energy.

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How does Starlink work?

Starlink uses a network of its satellites which operate like cell towers, but in space, to provide cell coverage to even remote areas which such terrestrial towers have never been able to reach before.

This will start out with text messaging functions and will eventually encompass phone calls.

This also means countries which do not have the financial resources to deploy a large network of cell towers can be benefited by the satellite network which can easily cover a vast area.

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The US Federal Communications Commission had conditionally approved Starlink’s satellite-to-cell plans last year.

Spangelo has a Ph.D in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Michigan. Before SpaceX, she was the CEO and co-founder of Swarm Technologies which was later acquired by SpaceX in 2021.

Prior to that, she was a Systems Engineer in Google, a Lead Systems Engineer in jet propulsion for NASA, and a consultant with Analytical Graphics, Inc. (AGI), according to her LinkedIn profile.