Meet Tony Frego, a mission manager at Spaceflight!

Q: Describe what you do for Spaceflight.

A: I’m a mission manager. I work with customers to guide them through all the launch vehicle, mission, and regulatory requirements so their spacecraft can legally and physically make it to space.

Q: What interests you about space?

A: The possibility for the existence of life on another planet and thinking about how the discovery would change the perspective of everyone on Earth.

Q: What is your favorite thing to do when you’re not working?

A: Spending time with my wife and daughter hiking, trying coffee shops, and exploring all that Seattle has to offer. I also enjoy fixing up my house.

Q: Star Wars, Star Trek or The Martian?

A: I’ll go with Star Trek since it has both faster than light travel and the transporters. The former would allow for exploration of cosmos and the latter would allow me to have a breakfast croissant in Paris, an espresso in Rome, all in the time it would take me to do my normal morning commute.

Q: If you were to mentor someone who wanted to do what you do, what advice would you give them?

A: Three things:

• Organization is your friend – Guiding many customers on several missions, all with different requirements is hard and will make your brain hurt, unless you’re organized.
• Learn to embrace uncertainty – At Spaceflight we’re trying to do things that have never been done before. Oftentimes there isn’t an easy or correct answer, but with hard work and perseverance, you’ll figure it out.
• Take the initiative – Your success (and Spaceflight’s) is tied to your ability to step up and get things done. If you see something that would be a benefit to your team, put yourself out there and do it.

Q: Would you be interested in going to space someday?

A: Maybe, but it would have to be very reliable. I’m very fortunate to have a great life and a very good job. It would be a struggle to justify the risk of going to space.

Q: What’s one thing that most people at Spaceflight don’t know about you?

A: Growing up, I spent most of my free time working on my family farm where I started driving a tractor at the age of 5. We grew grapes, apples, and asparagus in southwest Michigan. It was a lot of hard physical work but the payoff was the freshly pressed apple cider and the homemade wine.