Max Space appoints Kirsten Whittingham President

Max Space appoints Kirsten Whittingham President

Max Space founders Aaron Kemmer and Maxim de Jong have announced the appointment of Kirsten Whittingham as President of Max Space. Kirsten brings to the company a history of accomplished leadership in spaceflight, aerospace, and defense in commercial, military and government sectors. Within her purview, Kirsten will lead Max Space business development as it enters these markets.

“Kirsten has the engineering, business, and financial acumen to bring Max Space to the forefront of space station deployment in the next 4-5 years, as the International Space Station (ISS) is decommissioned,” stated Kemmer. “Her most recent experience in a leadership role at Axiom Space, a privately-funded space infrastructure developer, to contracts with international governments for missions to the ISS, will be a great asset to Max Space.”

“Max Space is an exciting new innovative and entrepreneurial private venture with the ability to change the direction of the space economy through low-cost and high-performing inflatable space stations,” remarked Whittingham. “I immediately envisioned how I could lead the company to the next level, given my solid background in spaceflight, customer support, and business operations.”

Prior to serving as VP of Revenue Operations at Axiom Space, Kirsten was Director of the F100 Program for Pratt & Whitney, a subsidiary of Raytheon Technologies, and Deputy Program Manager for Cirrus Aircraft. She is a graduate of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering.

The Max Space Advantage

Max Space’s innovative expandable space habitats can dramatically increase the volume of usable space in Low Earth Orbit (LEO), cislunar space, and on the Moon and Mars. Leveraging more than 25 years of space expandable innovation, research, and testing, Max Space structures have lower costs and mass than any other pressurized architecture, whether expandable, aluminum, titanium, or composite. The company’s R&D track record, including all parameters for flight testing, has produced a highly refined design conducive to large-scale production. 

The first Max Space habitat is manifested to fly with SpaceX in 2026. The goal is to have a family of scalable space habitats ranging from 20 m3 to 100 m3 to 1000 m3 through 2030. The Max Space expandable architecture offers remarkable scalability, with the potential to scale up to 10,000+ m3 megastructures, which can be launched in a single flight using Starship and New Glenn, once they’re online.