Reunion 2024

Mariel Rico ʼ09 
Customer Program Manager, Axiom Space

Mariel graduated from Stone Ridge in 2009 and went on to receive a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the George Washington University and a Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering Sciences from the University of Colorado-Boulder.  

She is currently a Customer Program Manager for Axiom Space in Houston, Texas. Axiom aims to build and operate the world’s first commercial space station. As a Customer Program Manager, she manages contracts between international governments and Axiom and helps ensure that Axiom meets contract requirements. 

She started her career as a Payload Integration Engineer for NanoRacks, a commercial space services provider and the first company to operate a commercial laboratory in low-earth orbit. As a Payload Integration Engineer, she was the primary customer interface for payload (science experiment) integration for Blue Origin’s New Shepard, a suborbital rocket. Afterwards, she took a role at Aerodyne Industries LLC, a multi-faceted engineering services and solutions company, as an EVA (spacewalk) Operations Safety Engineer. She has worked 11 EVAs, accumulating over 100 hours on console. 

In 2018, the International Institute of Space Commerce awarded her the 35 under 35 award for her work with NanoRacks.

At Stone Ridge, Mariel took many science and math classes with supportive teachers who were happy to help her with her studies during class and even during lunch. She recognizes that her time at Stone Ridge gave her invaluable lessons that are helping her today - especially on how to stay organized and to prioritize what matters in life. “Stone Ridge taught me the capacity to remain organized, to understand what is going on, and to enumerate what is a priority and what can be put aside for a later date.”

Her advice to students? “Be persistent! You can’t expect to understand something the moment it is taught. It’s okay to seek help beyond yourself.”

As to the future of her field, she is excited to see an increase in the accessibility to space that has come with commercialization. As she said, “Aerospace used to be just NASA. That is no longer the case.” With talented engineers like Mariel leading the way, every day people’s access to space is getting closer and closer every day.