“I’ve been here for 20 years, and what keeps me interested is that we are trying to solve some of the greatest challenges we face as a nation.”
– Booz Allen Executive Vice President Andrea Inserra
The U.S. government’s increased commitment to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Space Force, and private public space collaboration brings a critical need for leadership—and those rising to the challenge oversee a variety of tasks: defense-based space support, advanced technologies, robotics, and more.
Highlights follow from Booz Allen Executive Vice President Andrea Inserra’s multifaceted career and Booz Allen’s work in the space sector.
Since taking on leadership of Booz Allen’s aerospace account team in April 2020, Andrea Inserra has revitalized the firm’s space business. Her strategy brings together work across the defense and civilian space missions, including the Space Force, Air Force, NASA, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
No stranger to high-profile and high-stakes challenges, Inserra previously led the operations and strategy team for Booz Allen’s defense and commercial business and launched the firm’s technology adoption and translation offering. She was also a leader in the firm’s military and civil health businesses.
“I’ve been here for 20 years, and what keeps me interested is that we are trying to solve some of the greatest challenges we face as a nation,” Inserra said. “Space today looks very different than it did in the 1960s because now there are far more commercial stakeholders and far lower barriers to entry. As a result, there are thousands of new and different satellites orbiting the Earth for weather, emergency response, defense, and beyond.”
Inserra expects that number to grow significantly—and with it the volume of information these space assets collect.
“As a company, Booz Allen is thinking about what to do with all that data. How can you leverage the data, analyze it, and use it to make better decisions?” Inserra said.
She’s also anticipating more public-private collaboration. “As the industry continues to fund new technologies and innovation, we have to create those safe, open collaborative spaces for industry and the U.S. government to continuously collaborate and connect.”
Inserra inherits a rich legacy. Booz Allen has deep roots in aerospace, serving as an advisor to pioneering rocket scientist Wernher von Braun and as a consultant to NASA in developing the theoretical trajectory that put the first human on the Moon.
The firm has worked on the International Space Station since its beginning and was part of the original Space Operations Task Force that shaped the mission. Today, under Inserra’s leadership, Booz Allen engineers handle logistics and operations, coordinating traffic from commercial partners like SpaceX and Northrop Grumman and international traffic from Russia and Japan, and have undertaken critical development support for building out Space Force military’s newest branch, in addition to critical work for NASA.
As NASA lays the foundation of the Artemis program to explore Mars and beyond, Booz Allen is providing mission-essential engineering, consulting, analytics, digital solutions, and cybersecurity services, including:
The space sector remains a top priority and growth area for Booz Allen’s business. In El Segundo, California, Booz Allen expanded to a nearly 35,000 square foot facility to support the firm’s continued growth in the Los Angeles area and its commitment to providing technical solutions to clients including NASA, U.S. Space Force, Space Systems Command (SSC), Space Development Agency, Space Rapid Capabilities Office (RCO), the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), NOAA, and the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL). In Colorado Springs, Booz Allen invested in developing a classified digital engineering network to support client missions.
Inserra’s team will spearhead a strategy that emphasizes scalable, non-proprietary, modular architectures that accelerate modernization. Those technologies include:
“The space market and environment are undergoing significant change with new threats, new challenges, new players, and new opportunities,” Inserra said. “I am excited that Booz Allen is well-positioned to bring many of our unique capabilities like data platform and ground system development, artificial intelligence/machine learning, data analytics and cyber capabilities to help our military, civil, and commercial partners solve their most difficult problems.”
