Payam Banazadeh is the founder and CEO of Capella Space. He studied at The University of Texas, Austin, and earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Aerospace, Aeronautic, and Astronautical Engineering. During his research in the business course, Payam focused on entrepreneurial technical considerations which would help him in his vision. In his career path, he joined NASA, where he had various roles to work perfectly. He interned at NASA as the mission formulation intern educating and inspiring STEM students. Later in the company, he became an engineer of a Lead Project System. Here, he formulated concepts and missions that gave him a glimpse of management and operation deployment, informing his decisions about his space vision.
Payam Banazadeh pursued his Master’s degree in business and management at Stanford University. It was then that he co-founded Capella Space with William Woods. The disappearance of the Malaysian Airlines Flight 730 partially inspired the pair. It brought the importance of a system that closely monitors the Earth’s surface. The duo came up with the constellation of satellites that regularly monitor the planet. Capella Space came into existence with the hope of monitoring Earth’s surface from space and providing transparency into different industries.
Capella Space is a Silicon Valley Satellite Imaging company building the largest constellation of Synthetic Aperture Radar satellites. Payam Banazadeh turned SAR technology into another way of monitoring the Earth’s surface. He utilized his vast understanding of space operations to design a smaller SAR satellite imaging the planet regardless of the time of day and weather conditions. The company has launched its first planned constellation of earth monitoring satellites. New York Times, Bloomberg, and Inc. Magazine have recognized Capella Space as among the top 25 disruptive companies globally.
Payam Banazadeh’s incredible expertise has earned him NASA Mariner Award, NASA Discovery Award, and NASA Formulation Award. The entrepreneur was recently featured in the prestigious “Forbes 30 under 30” list in 2017. His significant contribution in reimaging the applications of the existing technology has helped create a new way of Earth’s data transmission. Payam has played a significant and will forever be a legend.
Dil Bole Oberoi
