Personal Story

Published in the RSAA Lunations
Vol1 Issue69 1–28 February 2026

Having been born in the drizzly UK (Norwich, Norfolk to be exact), I set my sights on sunnier horizons and made it my mission to move to Australia. 

Having dabbled in astrophotography with the help of my dad in my teenage years, I have always been interested in astronomy, leading me to study astrophysics at university. It was here that I undertook a placement in optics engineering and working with high power lasers, which I then pursued after finishing university. I did this for a year before finding my natural calling: bossing people around.

I made the switch from optics engineering to project management and haven't looked back. I joined a graduate programme as a project manager at RAL Space, an institute that designs, builds and tests space hardware instrumentation. As part of this graduate programme, a 3-month placement is offered in order to share expertise and best practise, it was this that got me over to Australia in the first place. 

I scoured Australia for institutes doing similar research and testing of space hardware and happened upon AITC, which coincidentally also has an NSTF (although AITC's is the National Space Test Facility and RAL's is the National Satellite Test Facility). I put some feelers out and eventually got put into contact with the Laser Communications team here at Mount Stromlo, who snapped up the offer of free labour.

I spent 3 months at MSO, with the main aim of introducing ECSS (European Cooperation for Space Standardisation) to projects here and setting up new projects accordingly. These 3 months were invaluable in seeing how other institutes are ran, especially one with so many similarities to RAL Space and so I regrettably headed back to the UK to share all that I had learnt on my placement. Upon my return home, I kept an eye out for employment opportunities on the chance that I might be able to make my way back to MSO, and luckily, I didn't have to wait too long before applying to be a Space Projects Quality Manager here.

I moved over with my partner in November 2025 and have been thoroughly enjoying the Australian lifestyle since. I am excited to impart all that I learnt at RAL Space and begin to implement more ECSS standards across AITC to provide more consistent documentation and deliveries. I will be managing the Laser Communications project portfolio, as well as implementing processes and procedures within the project management group.

Outside of work, I am an avid crafter. If you see me around and need someone to talk about knitting or crochet, I have all the time in the world for it. My partner and I have also recently started fostering ex-racer greyhounds, which has always been a goal! Our first foster, Paxton, has been adopted and is now living his pet life out on the Northern Beaches.

Bea Fischer-Harrison