If someone would say to an 18-year-old me that I would be working in the space industry I would probably ask this person to stop joking. My educational journey started with the desire to become an interpreter/translator and work with languages. A year later I decided to go further, move from Ukraine to France and start studying Law in Strasbourg – a charming city in Alsace. Space appeared in my life by pure magic (yes, it exists!), and not even in France, but in Finland, where I had the chance to pursue my studies. At the University of Helsinki, among all the law courses one has particularly caught my attention: “Space Law Moot Court”. My curious soul could not resist picking this subject and I dived into it completely. That is where I attended my first IAC in Bremen, helped to organize the first Space Generation regional event in Paris, and won, together with my Finnish teammate, a prize for the best space law moot court memorial in Europe!

Fascinated by the space world even more, I decided to apply to the International Space University, and thanks to the coincidental scholarship support of the Strasbourg municipality, to be able to participate in the Space Studies Program 2019. Subsequently, I got my Masters in Space Law and Telecommunications from Paris Saclay University and started working in a space startup in Luxembourg.

I am currently working as the Lead Legal and Business Analyst in a space/legal startup called RespectUs. Our team is developing a platform to help space companies to better manage all export control and trade-related processes internationally. My job, as the title suggests, requires besides solid legal and linguistical skills (to understand complex regulations), the ability to be at ease with business analysis, agile software development, UI/UX design and even with fundamentals of space engineering, on some occasions! Furthermore, I enjoy raising awareness about export control and from time to time set up a green screen to shoot educative videos for RespectUs’ “Lisa’s Corner” on YouTube. Altogether sounds pretty exciting, isn’t it?

Life is too short for doing things that are not making you happy. So if space (no matter the way you are involved in it!) makes your eyes sparkle - don’t ever give up and continue enjoying it. At the end, if you like what you do and do it well, the law of attraction will certainly help you and make your space dreams come true :)