Scott Henderson ’88, Launch. Land. Repeat.
Scott began his career as a spacecraft engineer charged with test and checkout of national security satellites at Cape Canaveral. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in astronautical engineering from the United States Air Force Academy in 1985. He earned his master of science in engineering management at Florida Tech in 1988.
Henderson is currently vice president, test and flight operations for Blue Origin, a private firm whose vision is “Millions of People Living and Working in Space”—this vision will be achieved, utilizing their vertical take-off and vertical landing (VTVL) New Glenn launch system.
Scott had a distinguished career in the U.S. Air Force. He was commander of both the 45th Launch Group and the 2nd Space Operations Squadron with the mission of command and control of the GPS satellite constellation, as well as management of the Milstar satellite communications system for the Air Force Space and Missile System Center. Scott joined SpaceX in 2009 where he led the launch safety and mission assurance team charged with launching the first Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft.
As a Florida Tech alumnus, Scott’s Panther Pride runs deep. Because of him, Florida Tech’s Center for Advanced Manufacturing and Innovative Design is partnering with Blue Origin to complement its workforce and technology development initiatives.
“If I can pass on that sense of wonder and pride of working in the space community to Florida Tech students and graduates, then I am doing my part as an alumnus,” Henderson states.
Henderson was featured in Florida Tech’s 60th Anniversary special edition book, “60 for 60: Celebrating Sixty Years of Alumni at Florida Institute of Technology.” Copies are available for purchase here.
