Natalya Bailey

She grew up in Oregon and recalls gazing at the stars from her backyard; a high school counselor suggested combining her interests in math and space, so she studied aerospace engineering at San Diego State University.⁠[1]

She earned an M.S. in mechanical engineering at Duke University, assisting with research into a new chemical rocket technology.⁠[2]

In 2009 she launched Asteria Micropropulsion, a small-satellite chemical propulsion start-up that soon closed.⁠[3]

In 2012 she and Louis Perna joined MIT’s Space Propulsion Laboratory, directed by Paulo Lozano, whose electric-propulsion prototype in development since about 2004 soon drew industry interest.⁠[3]

After working her way through a PhD at MIT’s Space Propulsion Laboratory, she founded Accion Systems with Louis Perna in 2014 to commercialize the lab’s propulsion technology.⁠[4]

In March 2015 Accion presented MAX-1, its first commercial electrospray module, made of eight chips of about 1 square centimeter and using a nontoxic liquid-salt propellant.⁠[3]

In May 2016 Accion raised a $7.5 million Series A led by Shasta Ventures with participation from RRE Ventures, Founder Collective and Slow Ventures; it had previously raised $2 million in seed funding and $6.5 million from Department of Defense partnerships.⁠[5]

In September 2016 she was Accion’s 29-year-old CEO; the company’s propulsion system was about the size of a dime, and it had $9.5 million in venture funding and a $3 million order from the Department of Defense.⁠[4]

She was named to ForbesForbesForbes is an American business media brand that began with Forbes magazine, founded by B.C. Forbes in 1917. It is known for rankings such as the Forbes 400, the World’s Billionaires list and 30 Under 30, and operates Forbes.com, ForbesLive events and licensed editions in 81 countries. Since 2014 a majority stake has been held by the Hong Kong investment group Integrated Whale Media; a 2021 plan to list on the New York Stock Exchange through a special purpose acquisition company was terminated in 2022. It is headquartered in Jersey City, New Jersey.Open the full entry’ 30 Under 30 in 2016, to Inc. Magazine’s 30 Under 30, as a Boston Business Journal Woman to Watch and as a New England Entrepreneur of the Year finalist in 2017, and as a 2018 MIT Technology Review Innovator Under 35; in graduate school she was a National Science Foundation Fellow.⁠[6]

In October 2018 Boeing announced an investment in Accion led by Boeing HorizonX Ventures with participation from GETTYLAB, backing its Tiled Ionic Liquid Electrospray (TILE) system of postage stamp-size thrusters and non-toxic ionic liquid propellant; as CEO she said TILE fundamentally rewrites the relationship between mass and propulsion.⁠[7]

In November 2018 a CubeSat built by high school students from Irvine, California, using Accion technology was due to launch from New Zealand on Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket to photograph Venus and other targets; she said Accion’s commercial focus was spacecraft of 100–400 kilograms.⁠[8]

She recalls that several large aerospace companies approached them at MIT about the technology, convincing them a market existed; by 2019 Accion had more than 30 people and was named one of Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies in space that year.⁠[9]

On February 1, 2021, as Accion’s CTO, she was the guest of episode 157 of the Lex FridmanLex FridmanLex Fridman is a Soviet-born, US-raised computer scientist and podcast host who works as an MIT research scientist on human-AI interaction and autonomous driving. His Lex Fridman Podcast is known for hours-long conversations with guests including heads of state and technology leaders.Open the full entry Podcast, titled “Rocket Engines and Electric Spacecraft Propulsion,” covering how rocket, ion and colloid engines work, nuclear-powered rockets, satellites and building a rocket company.⁠[10]

In July 2021 Accion announced a $42 million Series C led by an affiliate of Tracker Capital, valuing the company at $83.5 million and giving Tracker Capital a majority stake; Peter Kant was CEO, and the company described her and Perna as its 2014 founders.⁠[11]

As founding CEO she led Accion to its first space flights and $40 million in venture capital and government revenue; as CTO she set technology strategy and directed R&D, while investing in women-led businesses through XFactor Ventures.⁠[2]

As of October 2026 her AIAA profile says she led Accion for ten years before it was acquired, then ran strategy at fuel cell and electrolyzer maker Bloom Energy, and now serves as a fractional COO lending expertise in propulsion, electrochemistry and semiconductors to companies including Curated Innovation.⁠[12]

Accion Systems: Official website: https://accion-systems.com/ (opens in a new window)⁠[10]