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January 15, 2021

Stellar Solutions Founder and Board Chair Celeste Ford was named a recipient of the 2021 E. David Spong Lifetime Achievement Award by the Foundation for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. This honor “recognizes individuals who have performed truly extraordinary service, changed their world, and inspired others to do the same,” according to the Foundation’s press release.

The U.S. Secretary of Commerce announced the selection of Stellar Solutions for the Baldrige Award in 2017. The company received the nation’s highest honor for performance excellence and sustainability as a result of Ford’s committed leadership and advocacy. 

“Celeste Ford embodies Baldrige leadership values and principles, and has provided outstanding service to the Baldrige community and beyond,” said Al Faber, President and CEO of the Foundation. The Leadership Awards will be presented at an awards event as part of the Quest for Excellence conference in April.

Congratulations, Celeste! Read the full press release here: http://www.prweb.com/releases/stellar_solutions_board_chair_celeste_ford_receives_baldrige_foundation_lifetime_achievement_award/prweb17661137.htm .

Stellar has made it to the morning news!  Melissa and her team performed technical Due Diligence as part of a broader team looking at financial, business, and legal aspects of Momentus, leading to the announcement this week of a SPAC investment which will take Momentus to an IPO next year.

Stellar expertise provided by John Ellison, Alan Davis, Dr. Larry Alder, and Melissa Farrell, was instrumental in assessing the technical feasibility and risks of the MET (water based electro-thermal thruster technology), as well as overall mission concept, programmatics including schedule and resource risks, and providing ‘insiders’ perspective on the market and potential competition looking forward. 

We evaluated the data provided by Momentus, held a number of technical Q&A working sessions with Momentus leadership, and interviewed Momentus customers to develop a multi-faceted perspective on their business, all in the very short span of 2 1/2 weeks.  It’s exciting to see this deal go forward quickly and we’re happy to have supported this innovative new venture!

Today marks the 100^th anniversary of the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which prohibits the states and the federal government from denying citizens the right to vote on the basis of sex.

The fight for gender equality began over a century ago, paving the way to women’s voices being heard not only in politics, but in aerospace and business. Although more doors have been opened to women in the following decades, the hinges were often rusty with some entryways blocked completely. We are all familiar with Amelia Earhart, NASA hidden figures like Katherine Johnson, and today’s female astronauts who are making history in space and on Earth.

We salute those who blazed the trails before us and helped make the journey possible for a company like Stellar Solutions.

We are a woman-owned small business founded 25 years ago by Celeste Ford with a fundamental vision: to satisfy our customers’ critical needs while realizing our dream jobs. In 2020, our guiding principles, differentiators, and commitment to our diverse cadre of employees and leaders all remain the same—and we are proud to work with our partners and customers in creating a future where women and girls everywhere can reach for the stars!

July 10, 2020.

Silicon Valley aerospace company Stellar Solutions has announced that longtime Vice President for Defense Programs Betsy Pimentel will transition to a consulting role for the company effective July 1.

Pimentel, who was part of the first U.S. Air Force Academy class of women in 1976, has amassed forty years of proven experience in all aspects of space systems planning, acquisition and operations as well as systems engineering and defense program management.

“Betsy has provided Stellar Solutions with invaluable technical expertise in defense policy, program management and in-depth knowledge of customer and contractor relations. We are incredibly grateful for Betsy’s illustrious leadership and presence over the past 17 years,” said Celeste Ford, Stellar Solutions’ Founder and Board Chair.

Succeeding Betsy Pimentel is Janet Grondin, who joined Stellar Solutions as Director of Emerging Space Capabilities in 2018 after supporting Northrop Grumman Corporation as Director for Overhead Persistent Infrared (OPIR) Exploitation Systems as well as Operations Director for MILSATCOM and National Program ground systems. Before that, Grondin served 25 years in the U.S. Air Force in numerous leadership, project management and technical roles, developing significant expertise in command, acquisition, program management, and systems engineering for space and ground systems. These positions included Chief of the Range and Network Division that oversaw the Eastern and Western Ranges; Air Force Satellite Control Network and Standard Space Trainer; Program Manager for the Global Positioning System (GPS) Operational Control Segment; Program Element Monitor for Space Situational Awareness and Special Access; and a Director of Engineering supporting the National Reconnaissance Office.

As VP for Defense Programs, Grondin will assume leadership and oversight of Stellar Solutions’ robust technology, management, and expert solutions for Department of Defense customers related to space and missile systems for national protection and security. These efforts include space superiority, launch enterprise integration, and web services development programs; major programs like GPS and the Space-Based Infrared System; and related capabilities that serve the Air Force in missile warning, weather, precision navigation and timing, and communications. Stellar Solutions has established an exemplary breadth of engagement to ensure continuity of operations across the globe in the event of a threat. The company, which celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2020, is recognizing and leveraging this legacy of success resulting from the decades of commitment by dedicated leaders like Betsy Pimentel, while positioning its team and capabilities for the next 25 years of satisfying customers’ critical needs.

Chief Executive Officer Michael Lencioni remarked, “We are also pleased to further Stellar’s rich history as a woman-owned company by maintaining our comparatively high percentage of women in top leadership positions. There are five points of the Stellar ‘star’: intelligence, defense, civil, commercial, and international. Among the Stellar Solutions senior leadership team of the CEO, CFO, Executive VP, and six VPs–three are women. In addition to Janet, we have Melissa Farrell as VP for Commercial Programs and Amy Chaput as VP for Civil Programs. Women are responsible for a majority of these key technical lines of business, in addition to Celeste Ford and Betsy Pimentel remaining in vital executive positions—yet another example of our company ‘Leading the Way’.”

The press release is available online here: https://www.prweb.com/releases/stellar_solutions_announces_defense_programs_leadership_transition/prweb17223729.htm .

May 31, 2020.

“People who end up as ‘first’ don’t actually set out to be first. They set out to do something they love.” – Condoleezza Rice

As innovators and champions know, being first is a singular experience: there can only be one, and it is truly remarkable. The impact of Saturday’s successful launch of the first crewed spacecraft by a private company will be felt in sweeping ways throughout both the business and science & technology communities. SpaceX, in partnership with NASA, has demonstrated with Crew Dragon Demo-2 what has previously only been achieved by three nations– the technological capability to safely send human beings into orbit. And today has brought even more great news: NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken have safely docked with the International Space Station.

SpaceX has already followed a spectacular trajectory even before this unprecedented liftoff. They have achieved other important firsts, including the first propulsive landing and first reuse of an orbital rocket. After developing the first privately funded liquid-propellant rocket to reach orbit, they became the first private company to successfully launch, orbit, and recover a spacecraft, deliver a spacecraft to the space station, and inject an object into orbit around the sun. SpaceX has flown 20 NASA-contracted resupply missions to the space station, and in January became the world’s largest commercial satellite constellation operator with its Starlink project. And, just last month NASA announced the selection of Blue Origin, Dynetics, and SpaceX to develop the human landers that will carry astronauts to the Moon in 2024. Their achievements are impressive, and we commend them wholeheartedly.

NASA continues to set the benchmark for innovation as a leader and a partner. The agency’s first strategic objective for exploration is among its most compelling: “Lay the foundation for America to maintain a constant human presence in low Earth orbit enabled by a commercial market.” What we are now seeing the results of NASA’s bold and novel change in approach that is enabling the creation of a new space-based economy for the future. This is what dynamic organizations do, they evolve by continuously adapting and improving. SpaceX was given the opportunity to adapt their own technology development processes with insights NASA experienced and perfected during Apollo and the Space Shuttle. Advancing these methods in partnership is paving the way to the Moon and Mars.

The success of Crew Dragon Demo-2 makes me even more excited about the forward-looking approaches to technology development and acquisition that are the cornerstone of Artemis, which will serve as our proving ground for the Red Planet, bear the torch for many thousands of people working in the space program, and carry the aspirations of untold millions everywhere. For those of us supporting Stellar Solution’s Civil Programs, this achievement is particularly galvanizing as we look ahead.

Beyond the excitement of this weekend, these milestones are critical to organizations like ours that are part of an extensive, multilayered community of government agencies and industry partners collectively working to achieve sustainable human exploration with SLS/Orion, Gateway, Human Landers and more.  Stellar Solutions’ employee-focused vision, agile strategic planning, and relentless focus on customer needs are ways we embrace a mindset of collaboration and innovation through our mission and values. So, now we celebrate, knowing that the challenge continues tomorrow!

About the author: Amy Chaput is Stellar Solutions’ Vice President for Civil Programs