Projects & Initiatives
Blue Origin — A Chapter in Human Spaceflight 🚀
Supply Chain Program Manager III — New Shepard · Jul 2022 – Jul 2025 Supply Chain Project Manager III — Global Strategic Projects · Aug 2025 – Present
New Glenn NG-3 — booster return.
What I Owned
On New Shepard (Jul 2022 – Jul 2025). Single-threaded owner for supply chain execution across crew capsule subsystems including structures, avionics, and composites. Owned MRP-driven material planning across multiple subsystems, sustained flight cadence for 12+ crewed missions, and negotiated supplier contracts at scale. When shortages or late-breaking engineering changes hit, I made the tradeoff calls that kept launch schedules intact.
On Global Strategic Projects (Aug 2025 – Present). Building the AI procurement and operational-intelligence layer for BO’s supply chain. I designed and deployed the company’s first AI-driven procurement automation pipeline, and personally built and deployed 20+ AI agents for procurement and operational intelligence — supplier monitoring, workflow automation, and decision support. I also led an enterprise platform migration across BO’s procurement organization without interrupting production.
New Glenn hardware manufacturing facility — where the work lives.
A Program That Made Space Accessible
By NS-38, New Shepard had flown 92 individuals — 98 seats above the Kármán line: explorers, engineers, teachers, founders, physicians, artists, pilots, and pioneers from around the world. From NS-22 through NS-38, I was part of the supply chain team supporting 69 of those individuals across 12+ crewed missions during my chapter.
NS-31 — first all-female spaceflight since 1963. Crew capsule recovery.
NS-26 — capsule thrusters firing during descent.
Among the milestones I’m proudest to have supported:
- Sara Sabry — first Egyptian in space
- Mário Ferreira — first Portuguese in space
- Ed Dwight — America’s first Black astronaut candidate, finally flying six decades after being denied
- Gopi Thotakura — first Indian space tourist
- Jesús Calleja — third Spaniard in space
- Amanda Nguyễn — first Vietnamese woman in space
- Michaela “Michi” Benthaus — first wheelchair user above the Kármán line
- NS-31 — the first all-female spaceflight since 1963
View full astronaut roster from my chapter (NS-22 → NS-38)
Coby Cotton · Mário Ferreira · Vanessa O'Brien · Clint Kelly III · Sara Sabry · Steve Young · Mason Angel · Sylvain Chiron · Ed Dwight · Ken Hess · Carol Schaller · Gopi Thotakura · Nicolina Elrick · Rob Ferl · Eugene Grin · Eiman Jahangir · Karsen Kitchen · Ephraim Rabin · Emily Calandrelli · Marc & Sharon Hagle · Austin Litteral · J.D. Russell · Hank Wolfond · Jesús Calleja · Lane Bess · Elaine Hyde · Richard Scott · Tushar Shah · Aisha Bowe · Kerianne Flynn · Gayle King · Amanda Nguyễn · Katy Perry · Lauren Sánchez · Jaime Alemán · Gretchen Green · Paul Jeris · Aymette Medina Jorge · Mark Rocket · Jesse Williams · Allie & Carl Kuehner · Leland Larson · Freddie Rescigno Jr. · Owolabi Salis · Jim Sitkin · Arvi Bahal · Gökhan Erdem · Deborah Martorell · Lionel Pitchford · Justin Sun · Jeff Elgin · Danna Karagussova · Will Lewis · Aaron Newman · Vitalii Ostrovsky · Michaela "Michi" Benthaus · Joey Hyde · Hans Koenigsmann · Neal Milch · Adonis Pouroulis · Jason Stansell · Tim Drexler · Linda Edwards · Alain Fernandez · Alberto Gutiérrez · Jim Hendren · Laura Stiles.
NS-38 astronauts.
Mission Highlights
NS-22 Crew Capsule Recovery & Supply Chain Integration
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NS-22 Earth View from Capsule Operations
NS-25 Historic Flight: Supported logistics for Ed Dwight, the first African American astronaut candidate, fulfilling a decades-long journey.
NS-26 Capsule & Booster Recovery Operations
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NS-28: Mission logistics support for Emily Calandrelli ("The Space Gal").
NS-31: Supported supply chain readiness for the mission carrying Katy Perry and advancing public engagement in commercial spaceflight.
New Glenn Launch Vehicle Supply Chain & Procurement
What This Chapter Taught Me
Three lessons I carry forward:
- Reliability under public scrutiny. When a celebrity, a head of state, or a child is sitting in your capsule, “good enough” is not a defensible standard.
- Speed without compromising zero-defect. Suborbital cadence forced us to ship faster than legacy aerospace — without inheriting the bureaucracy that normally slows it down.
- The fastest cost reduction is the system that replaces the manual one. Real savings don’t come from squeezing suppliers — they come from rebuilding the workflows that decide what to buy and from whom.
Where This Leads
I automate industrial operations that everyone else still runs manually. The AI agents I build inside BO and the AI tools I’ve shipped on tobacia.space (Frontier, Pathfinder, Watchtower) are the same thesis applied at two scales: find the manual process, build the system that replaces it, and prove it works.
This chapter has reinforced my belief that the future belongs to teams willing to build hard things, open new frontiers, and expand what humanity believes is possible. I’m carrying that standard into AI systems for industrial workflows — a sector that desperately needs it.
Space United – Sports in Space
Advisor for Space United, an initiative dedicated to taking sports beyond Earth, starting with the beautiful game of soccer.
Space United Team
Outreach Collaboration with Atlético Nacional
Anything Flows – Startup & Branding
Founded and scaled Anything Flows, an industrial automation and valve solutions company, holding multiple trademarks including the creative Vincent Van Flow branding.
Anything Flows – Valve & Control Solutions Startup
Industrial Valve Actuators – Process Automation
Andres Tobacia delivering Natural Gas Pipeline Valves – Engineering Solutions
Vincent Van Flow – Trademarked Creative Branding
STEM & AI Outreach
Educational outreach and content inspiring future engineers and space enthusiasts.
Over 17,000+ views on YouTube.