Aerospace engineering maverick honored for a career of inspiring excellence and cultivating achievement for women and men to the industry.
Los Altos, CA, September 23, 2025 — Betsy Pimentel, Strategic Advisor at Stellar Solutions, Inc., a global aerospace engineering services leader, will receive the Women in Aerospace (WIA) Leadership Award to honor her career of advancing groundbreaking aerospace solutions and cultivating women leaders in the global space industry.
“Stellar Solutions is extraordinarily proud that Betsy Pimentel, a humble yet powerful force behind many great aerospace achievements, is being recognized with the WIA Leadership Award. With generosity and guidance in mentoring women and men, Betsy has made immeasurable contributions to the health and future of our company, and indeed the industry,” said Janet Grondin, CEO of Stellar Solutions, a Malcolm Baldrige Quality Award-winning privately-held company serving the Defense, Intelligence, Civil, Commercial and International sectors.
Pimentel has been a maverick in the industry for 45 years. She was part of the first United States Air Force Academy class to graduate women in 1980, followed by 20 years in the US Air Force. She was part of the team supporting the Columbia Shuttle flight, STS-4, in 1982, which laid the groundwork for future missions.
She was the second woman to serve as a nuclear missile Squadron Commander overall, and the first at Malmstrom Air Force Base where she was responsible for 24-hour operations of a strategic nuclear missile squadron of 230 personnel and 50 nuclear missiles spread over 2,500 square miles.
Following key roles in the White House and at Northrop Grumman, Pimentel joined Stellar Solutions in 2003 and proceeded to lead award-winning programs for the US Air Force. For example, she helped bring to fruition the Geosynchronous Space Situational Awareness Program (GSSAP) that set the stage for a key element of today’s Space Domain Awareness approach. In 2020, she began direct support to the International Affairs Directorate at Space Systems Command, LA, helping to define the roles and responsibilities within the new US Space Force field command.
Throughout her years at Stellar, Pimentel has contributed fundamentally to the company’s success by driving the development and retention of its people, from attracting promising, early career aerospace engineers to the STAR (Stellar Talent and Recruiting) program, to building a company-wide strategy for advancing leaders throughout the company.
She has been a longtime advocate of continuous improvement, aligned with the company’s pursuit and attainment of the Malcolm Baldrige Quality Award in 2017. As a mentor for the California Council for Excellence (CCE), Pimentel led the team to win California Award for Performance Excellence (CAPE) – Eureka Gold in 2016. She served as a member of the Boards of CCE and Rocky Mountain Performance Excellence (RMPEX) in Colorado, and as a senior mentor for the CCE Fellows program.
Women in Aerospace (WIA) is a premier professional organization committed to advancing women’s leadership, education, and visibility in the aerospace community. For the past 40 years, the WIA Awards have celebrated remarkable contributions to advancing women in aerospace, honoring female leaders and allies who have made a lasting impact.
The WIA Awards Dinner will take place October 9, 2025, at the Ritz-Carlton Pentagon City Hotel in Arlington VA. The 2025 WIA Awards proudly celebrates seven trailblazing women for their notable achievements and unwavering dedication to forwarding women in the field.
About Stellar Solutions, Inc.: Stellar Solutions, Inc. is a global aerospace and systems engineering services provider to commercial, defense, intelligence, civil and international sectors. Stellar Solutions provides systems engineering capabilities and strategic support for global communications, remote sensing, national defense, and space exploration. These solutions to customer critical needs connect technology and customers across multiple domains. With physical operations throughout the U.S. and around the globe, Stellar Solutions is a recognized leader in delivering end-to-end critical expertise and problem-solving skills. https://www.stellarsolutions.com
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