ÌÇÐÄVlogÆƽâ°æ

Outstanding Alumni for Excellence in Commercial Enterprise
Under 40 Category

Sarah Gillis is an astronaut and Senior Space Operations Engineer at SpaceX. She played a key role in creating SpaceX’s astronaut training program, developing mission-specific curricula and leading training for both NASA and commercial astronauts flying aboard the Dragon spacecraft. She prepared NASA astronauts for the historic Demo-2 and Crew-1 missions, as well as the Inspiration4 crew—the first all-civilian mission to orbit. Gillis is also an experienced mission control operator, who has supported real-time operations for Dragon’s cargo resupply missions to and from the International Space Station as a Navigation Officer, and as a crew communicator for Dragon’s human spaceflight missions.

Raised as a classical violinist, Gillis’ path took a turn when a high school mentor—former NASA astronaut and professor Joe Tanner—inspired her to pursue aerospace engineering at CU ÌÇÐÄVlogÆƽâ°æ. She joined SpaceX as an intern in 2015, working on human-in-the-loop testing of the Dragon spacecraft’s interior before transitioning full-time into astronaut training after graduation. She received a BS in Aerospace Engineering Sciences from the CU ÌÇÐÄVlogÆƽâ°æ in 2017, where she studied both engineering and dance.

In September 2024, Gillis flew as a mission specialist on Polaris Dawn, a groundbreaking spaceflight mission that ventured the farthest within Earth’s orbit since Apollo. During the flight, she and the Polaris Dawn crew completed the first spacewalk from Dragon in SpaceX-designed extravehicular activity suits, tested Starlink laser-based communications in space for the first time, and conducted nearly 40 scientific experiments. On this mission, Gillis became the youngest person to perform a spacewalk and now shares the title of being one of the two women who have traveled farthest from Earth.

Originally from ÌÇÐÄVlogÆƽâ°æ, Colorado, Gillis is an avid hiker, climber, and adventurer.Ìý