Features
Seattle’s Most Influential People 2019: Spaceflight Industries CEO, Curt Blake
Spaceflight will have overseen some 23 rocket launches ferrying 226 satellites into Earth’s orbit or beyond by year’s end
By Bill Conroy November 5, 2019
This article originally appeared in the November 2019 issue of Seattle magazine.
This article appears in print in the November 2019 issue, as part of the Most Influential People of the Year feature. Click here to subscribe.
Curt Blake catapulted Seattle’s Spaceflight Industries into a dominant role in the global satellite race last December by pulling off a record-breaking rocket launch that involved a payload of 64 small satellites from 17 countries. Under Blake’s leadership as chief executive officer of the company’s rocket-launch and rideshare subsidiary, Spaceflight will have overseen some 23 rocket launches ferrying 226 satellites into Earth’s orbit or beyond by year’s end. Blake estimates that Spaceflight now has “70% to 80% of the rideshare market.” Asked why he chose to pursue a career from Seattle, versus a city with strong ties to the space industry, like Houston, he says, “The simple answer is because I grew up here, and I wouldn’t live in Texas.”
Follow Us
Most Influential: Ethan Stowell
Restaurateur, Activist
Chef Ethan Stowell knows good food can change lives. You probably recognize him as the force behind more than 20 Seattle-area restaurants and cafes. Now, he’s taking on a new challenge: transforming what kids eat in public schools as a member of Eat Real’s chefs council. America’s school cafeterias serve 7 billion meals a year…
Most Influential: Uttam Mukherjee & Dr. Aakanksha Sinha
Co-founders of Spice Waala
When Spice Waala opened in 2019, husband and wife team Uttam Mukherjee and Dr. Aakanksha Sinha had two goals: bring authentic Indian street food to Seattle and give back to the community. Now, with three locations, Spice Waala is known for its flavorful chaats, kathi rolls — and its impact. Recently named King County Small…
Most Influential: Hamdi Mohamed
Seattle Port Commissioner
Hamdi Mohamed arrived 30 years ago with her family, refugees fleeing war-torn Somalia. In 2024, the 34-year-old port commissioner became the first Black woman to chair the Seattle Port Commission, the public authority that manages Sea-Tac Airport and the Port of Seattle. Mohamed was not quite a year old when she fled Somalia with her…
Most Influential: Delaney Ruston
Physician, Filmmaker
Delaney Ruston made her first film when she was a resident at UC San Francisco. While the rest of her medical school classmates delivered their final presentations in typical PowerPoint fashion, Ruston was inspired by the “video camera revolution” and the capability of film to portray people’s stories, she said. In the film, she told…