People

Amanda Knez

Co-Founder and COO

Amanda Knez is an aerospace engineer and leader in space operations, mission management, and program management. She is passionate about enabling humans in space and has been a part of programs ranging from the Space Shuttle and lunar spacecraft, to commercial launch companies. She has contributed to the early stages of multiple space startups and built several customer-facing technical teams from the ground up.

Prior to gravityLab, Amanda was the Vice President of Mission Operations at ABL Space Systems, an innovative launch company focused on mobile and responsive launch. There she oversaw mission management, payload integration, launch site strategy, and regulatory operations, among other programs.

Amanda was also previously the Moon Program Director at Rocket Lab, where she structured the lunar program with across teams (over 100 people) to deliver the NASA CAPSTONE mission. She also managed the company’s mission for the successful first-ever launch of an NRO spacecraft from non-U.S. soil (NROL-151). In the past, Amanda was additionally the program lead of Falcon 9 ground simulator at SpaceX, receiving the company’s “Kick Ass” award for her work on the simulator prior to the first launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base, and trained astronauts and flight controllers in Space Shuttle propulsion, guidance, and control systems at NASA Johnson Space Center.

Amanda holds a Bachelor’s in Aero/Astronautical Engineering from University of Washington, and a Master’s in Space Management from the International Space University.