For Country I Commit to Service · San Francisco Bay Area
Aaron John Estrada
Electrical Engineer & Spacecraft Operator
1st Lt, Civil Air Patrol (USAF Auxiliary) · FAA Part 107 Remote Pilot
Aaron John Estrada in Civil Air Patrol service dress uniform, standing before the United States and Civil Air Patrol flags.
1st Lt Aaron John EstradaCivil Air Patrol, USAF Auxiliary

I'm a spacecraft operator / mission operations engineer based in the San Francisco Bay Area. I manage satellite constellation, build the radio systems that talk to them, and use those same skills to help find people who are lost.

By day I serve as a primary Flight Operator for Xona Space Systems — supporting mission operations through spacecraft commanding, telemetry monitoring across the ground and space segments, and anomaly response to ensure safe and reliable mission execution.

Outside of that, I'm a 1st Lt with Civil Air Patrol, the U.S. Air Force Auxiliary, where I lead air and ground emergency services and disaster relief missions. I also developed Stella UAV, a drone-mounted software-defined radio built to locate emergency beacons from downed aircraft, and advise a team building autonomous planetary rovers.

I'm also pursuing an M.S. in Space Systems Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.

What I Work On

Current Assignments

Spacecraft Operator / Mission Operations Engineer
Xona Space Systems
Jul 2026 – Present
Planetary Rover Advisor
FRANK Autonomous
Jul 2026 – Present
1st Lt, Emergency Services & Disaster Relief Officer
Civil Air Patrol, U.S. Air Force Auxiliary
Jan 2026 – Present

Next Steps