Jessie Ndaba is a qualified electrical satellite engineer (Wits) and CEO at Astrofica Technologies, a space technology company she co-founded in 2017 with her business partner Khalid Manjoo. She is a board member of the South African National Space Agency (SANSA) and a Co-Chair for the SatComm and Navigation CoP at the National Earth Observation and Space Secretariat (NEOSS).
Jessie joined the Space industry in 2006. She received a Young Space Leadership Award in 2010 from the SGAC, then joined the International Space University in 2011 to further her studies in Space Systems Technology. She is a co-founder of the African Space Leadership Congress Youth Forum. She was part of the technical team that developed the Aerospace and Defense Masterplan, a presidential initiative after DTIC completed the Space Industry Development Policy Framework. She also received an Award from the Charlotte Mannya- Maxege Foundation for Women Leadership in STEM and a Presidential BIS Award for Export. She continues to mentor young professionals in the space industry