Kirsten Whittingham: President of Max Space and Chief Revenue Officer at Cosmic Girls Foundation

In episode 101, Ben chats to  Kirsten Whittingham, President of Max Space. Kirsten shares insights into her diverse and impressive career in the aerospace industry, from generating significant revenue at Axiom Space to overseeing the development of innovative expandable habitats at Max Space. The conversation delves into the unique technology behind Max Space's scalable habitats, the challenges and milestones ahead, and the future of space habitation. Kirsten also discusses her work with the Cosmic Girls Foundation, aiming to address gender inequality in the space industry and inspire more young girls to pursue STEM careers. OUTLINE: Here’s approximate timestamps for the episode. 00:14 Intro to 00:48 Introduction to Kirsten Whittingham 01:28 What is Max Space? 04:57 Inflatable 06:21 Mission in 2026 09:00 What is a soft goods? 10:22 Psychology of inflatable structures  12:20 How big could they be? 13:50 Experience from Axiom 17:35 Raising money for space startups 20:50 Sustainability 23:08 Private/public partnerships 25:55 Uses of Max Space habitat from research, manufacturing, space debris and sport?! 27:50 Cosmic Girls Foundation https://www.cosmicgirls.org/donate 30:45 CGF Initiatives 32:02 Advice to young people 35:10 Vision for the future of the space industry 37:53 Wrap Up and socials Connect with Max Space: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/getmaxspace Website: https://getmaxspace.com/ X: https://twitter.com/getmaxspace Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/getmaxspace/about/ Stay connected with us! Use #Astroben across various social media platforms to engage with us! Youtube: www.youtube.com/@astrobenpodcast Website: www.astroben.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/astrobenpodcast/ X: https://x.com/Gambleonit Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@astrobenpodcast LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/astrobenpodcast/