Nanja Strecker is the Co-Lead of ETH Zurich | Space.

What do a family business, a bank loan and the space sector have in common? More than you might think.

In this personal reflection, Nanja Strecker traces her unconventional journey into space and entrepreneurship, touching on the influence of growing up in an entrepreneurial family, the importance of learning as you go and the courage to enter a field where you are not yet an expert.

“Take risks in your life,” Nanja says, reflecting on lessons from her own path.

Along the way, she also challenges a few assumptions about what it takes to build a start-up and where the resources to do so need to come from.

At its heart, her story is an invitation to stay curious and venture beyond what you already know. So, what might you discover if you took a leap into something you know nothing about yet?

Mars rovers first sparked my curiosity. They eventually took me to NASA, across deserts and the Arctic, and back home to ETH Zurich. German version below.

As a child, I was fascinated by the idea of exploring other worlds. In primary school, I gave a presentation on NASA’s Mars Pathfinder mission, copying pictures from magazines onto overhead projector transparencies. Around twenty years later, I found myself working at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory with the Chief Engineer of that very mission. For me, that was a rather special moment.

At JPL, I developed prototypes for the search for chemical signs of life on Mars and on the icy moons of Jupiter and Saturn. What I always found particularly exciting was the connection between science and engineering: taking a scientific question and turning it into an instrument that could actually work under extreme conditions. In the Atacama Desert, we tested such systems during simulated Mars missions, and in the Arctic beneath the sea ice, as preparation for the future exploration of ocean worlds such as Europa or Enceladus.

Despite having a permanent position at JPL, I had the sense that something was beginning to move in Switzerland. Robotics, deep tech and startups were developing rapidly, international technology companies were expanding their presence, and a new momentum was also emerging in the space sector. In my view, Switzerland has many of the ingredients needed for the future of space: excellent research, strong engineering, precision technology and a remarkable concentration of talent. I wanted to be part of that development early on and help build something. After many years abroad, there was also a personal motivation to give something back to my home country and to ETH.

Today, I am Director of Space Research Initiatives at ETH Zurich | Space. What drives me is still very similar to what motivated me at JPL: curiosity, science, technology and the question of what we might discover next. The difference is that I now work across a much broader range of topics and, above all, with many different people. Together with our team and researchers from across ETH, we develop new concepts, dig into scientific and technical questions, and try to turn promising ideas into real projects and missions.

That is one of the aspects I enjoy most: space exploration almost never comes from a single discipline. It happens when people with very different backgrounds work together on a difficult problem. That is also why I particularly enjoy working with students and the next generation. Of course, I sometimes miss the days when I would spend hours in the lab building, soldering or trying to get an instrument to work. But today, with a strong team, I can work on far more ideas than I ever could alone.

The curiosity that first drew me to Mars Pathfinder as a child is still very much the same.

Deutsche Version:

Als Kind faszinierte mich die Vorstellung, andere Welten zu erkunden. In der Primarschule hielt ich einen Vortrag über die NASA-Mission Mars Pathfinder und kopierte dafür Bilder aus Zeitschriften auf Hellraumprojektor-Folien. Rund zwanzig Jahre später arbeitete ich am Jet Propulsion Laboratory der NASA mit dem Chief Engineer genau dieser Mission zusammen. Für mich war das ein ziemlich besonderer Moment.

Am JPL entwickelte ich Prototypen für die Suche nach chemischen Spuren von Leben auf dem Mars sowie auf den Eismonden von Jupiter und Saturn. Besonders spannend fand ich immer die Verbindung von Wissenschaft und Technik: eine wissenschaftliche Frage zu nehmen und daraus ein Instrument zu entwickeln, das unter extremen Bedingungen tatsächlich funktionieren kann. In der Atacama-Wüste testeten wir solche Systeme während simulierten Marsmissionen, in der Arktis unter dem Meereis, als Vorbereitung auf die Erforschung von Ozeanwelten wie Europa oder Enceladus.

Trotz meiner unbefristeten Festanstellung am JPL hatte ich das Gefühl, dass sich in der Schweiz etwas bewegte. Robotik, Deep Tech und Startups entwickelten sich rasant, internationale Technologieunternehmen bauten ihre Präsenz aus und auch im Raumfahrtsektor entstand neue Dynamik. Die Schweiz hat aus meiner Sicht sehr viele Zutaten, die es für die Raumfahrt der Zukunft braucht: hervorragende Forschung, starke Ingenieurwissenschaften, Präzisionstechnologie und eine grosse Dichte an Talenten. Ich wollte früh Teil dieser Entwicklung sein und mithelfen, etwas aufzubauen. Nach vielen Jahren im Ausland spielte auch der Wunsch eine Rolle, etwas an mein Heimatland und an die ETH zurückzugeben.

Heute bin ich Director of Space Research Initiatives bei ETH Zürich | Space. Was mich antreibt, ist aber immer noch sehr ähnlich wie damals am JPL: Neugier, Wissenschaft, Technologie und die Frage, was wir als Nächstes entdecken können. Nur arbeite ich heute an einer viel grösseren Bandbreite von Themen und vor allem mit sehr vielen unterschiedlichen Menschen. Gemeinsam mit unserem Team und Forschenden aus der ganzen ETH entwickeln wir neue Konzepte, gehen wissenschaftlichen und technischen Fragen auf den Grund und versuchen, aus vielversprechenden Ideen reale Projekte und Missionen zu machen.

Das gefällt mir besonders: Gute Raumfahrt entsteht fast nie in einer einzigen Disziplin. Sie entsteht dann, wenn Menschen mit unterschiedlichen Hintergründen gemeinsam an einem schwierigen Problem arbeiten. Deshalb macht mir auch die Arbeit mit Studierenden und der nächsten Generation grosse Freude. Natürlich vermisse ich manchmal die Tage, an denen ich selbst stundenlang im Labor gebaut, gelötet oder ein Instrument zum Laufen gebracht habe. Aber heute kann ich mit einem starken Team an viel mehr Ideen arbeiten, als ich es alleine je könnte.

Die Neugier, die mich als Kind zu Mars Pathfinder gebracht hat, ist jedenfalls noch dieselbe.

Simon Stähler looks back at himself and the world after 25 years (you can scroll down for the German version).

It is Friday, 11 September 2026; 25 years after the day that radically changed the lives of so many people—and, on a small scale, mine as well. I had been invited to a first interview on 20 September for an Aerospace Engineering degree at MIT; my dream of taking a first step into space research. On 14 September 2001, I received a call telling me that this round of interviews had been cancelled because of the global situation. In the general uncertainty, I buried the dream and studied physics in Germany. Over the following years of my physics studies, space drifted further and further away from me, and the 2000s were the decade of particle physics.

At some point, I discovered geophysics: the method of using physics to look inside the Earth or another planet. To this day, I have never lost that fascination: using waves or radar to see through the subsurface, something that is so close to us yet completely inaccessible. I was lucky, and some of the methods I developed over time proved useful to NASA in 2016, when they were planning a mission to Jupiter’s moon Europa; so I really did work as a consultant for NASA! And I was even luckier, because two years later, a geophysical mission landed on Mars for the first time, with the participation of ETH Zurich. By then I was working here, and I was able to become one of the first people to use data from Mars to look inside the planet—to detect marsquakes and to “hear” meteorite impacts through the ground.

Today is the last weekend before the semester begins, and on Monday I will stand in front of 45 new students. Forty-five people, most of whom did not experience September 11 themselves, will embark on a path that did not exist back then: they will study Space Systems at ETH Zurich and learn from us how to build spacecraft, how to design a scientific mission like the ones I have had the opportunity to work on, or even how to use data from space to build a startup.

It is a degree program that I designed, and in which I now have the opportunity to pass on my knowledge of scientific space missions, together with an incredible team of experts that we have built up at ETH Space over the past two years. ETH Zurich is not SupAero Toulouse or Politecnico Milano, universities where aerospace engineering has been taught for many decades, hand in hand with the major European aerospace companies located there.

But we are based in a place with incredibly exciting and innovative research—in robotics, sensing, planetary science, and many other fields. We have a dynamic startup ecosystem around ETH (as well as in Lausanne and other parts of Switzerland). With all of this, we can build a degree program focused on the technologies and concepts that are relevant to—and will be relevant to—the 21st-century Space Economy. We focus on systems engineering: putting together a complete system quickly and iteratively from existing components. We try to introduce students to working with large datasets as early as possible, because these are the key to being fast and innovative, and because we want to put them to use for Switzerland and the world. And we want to help make the space sector of the future sustainable; we do not want to transfer the damage that industrialization has caused on Earth into space.

In September of a year marked by accelerating climate change, the explosion of AI, and SpaceX’s IPO, the future is once again as uncertain as it was 25 years ago. I am proud and happy to be contributing, together with our team at ETH, in a small way to shaping that future.

In German:

Es ist Freitag, der 11. September 2026. 25 Jahre nach dem Tag, der das Leben vieler Menschen radikal veränderte – und im Kleinen auch meines: Ich war damals für den 20. September zu einem ersten Interview für ein Aerospace-Engineering-Studium am MIT eingeladen. Der erste Schritts meines Traums – ich wollte in die Weltraumforschung. So dachte ich zumindest damals. Am 14.September 2001 erhielt ich einen Anruf, dass das Interview wegen der Weltlage abgesagt sei. In der allgemeinen Unsicherheit begrub ich meinen Traum und studierte Physik in Deutschland. Über die nächsten Jahre wanderte der Traum vom Weltraum immer weiter weg von mir. Die Nullerjahre wurden für mich die Dekade der Teilchenphysik. 

​Irgendwann entdeckte ich die Geophysik. Die Methode, mit physikalischen Mitteln ins Innere der Erde oder eines Planeten zu schauen. Bis heute lässt mich diese Faszination nicht los den Untergrund – der uns so nahe, aber völlig unzugänglich ist – mit Wellen oder Radar zu durchleuchten. Ich hatte Glück, und einige der Methoden, die ich mit der Zeit entwickelte, waren 2016 nützlich für die NASA, als sie eine Mission zum Jupitermond Europa planten. So arbeitete ich doch noch als Berater für die NASA! Und damit nicht genug: Zwei Jahre später landete zum ersten Mal eine geophysikalische Mission auf dem Mars, mit Beteiligung der ETH Zürich, bei der ich mittlerweile arbeitete. So konnte ich als einer der ersten Menschen die Daten vom Mars nutzen, um in sein Inneres zu schauen; um Marsbeben zu detektieren und um Meteoriteneinschläge durch den Boden zu “hören”.

​Heute ist es das letzte Wochenende vor dem neuen Semester. Am Montag werde ich 45 neuen Studierenden gegenüber stehen. 45 Menschen, von denen die meisten “9/11“ nicht selbst miterlebt haben, werden einen Weg gehen, den es damals noch nicht gab: Sie werden an der ETH Zürich Space Systems studieren. Und von uns lernen, wie man Raumschiffe baut; oder eine wissenschaftliche Mission, wie die, an denen ich arbeiten durfte, plant; oder auch wie man mit Daten aus dem Weltraum ein Startup gründen kann. 

​Es ist ein Studiengang, den ich entworfen habe, und in dem ich jetzt mein Wissen über wissenschaftliche Raumfahrtsmissionen weitergeben darf – zusammen mit einem unglaublichen Expertenteam, das wir an der ETH Space über die vergangenen zwei Jahre aufgebaut haben. Die ETH Zürich ist nicht SupAero Toulouse oder Politecnico Milano; Universitäten, an denen seit vielen Jahrzehnten Raumfahrttechnik gelehrt wird, Hand in Hand mit den grössten europäischen Raumfahrtkonzernen vor Ort.

​Aber wir sind ein Standort mit unglaublich spannender und innovativer Forschung – in der Robotik, in der Sensorik, in der Planetenforschung und in vielem mehr. Wir haben eine dynamische Startup-Landschaft um die ETH Zürich (und auch in Lausanne und anderen Schweizer Orten). Wir können mit alledem einen Studiengang aufbauen, der sich auf die Technologien und Konzepte fokussiert, die in der Space Economy des 21. Jahrhunderts relevant sind und diejenigen, die es sein werden. Wir fokussieren uns auf Systems Engineering, also darauf, aus vorhandenen Komponenten iterativ und schnell ein Gesamtsystem zusammenzusetzen. Wir versuchen, die Studierenden so früh wie möglich daran heranzuführen, mit grossen Datensätzen umzugehen, die der Schlüssel dafür sind, schnell und innovativ zu sein, und die wir für die Schweiz und die Welt nutzen wollen. Und wir wollen helfen, die Raumfahrt der Zukunft nachhaltig zu gestalten. Wir wollen nicht die Schäden, die die Industrialisierung auf der Erde angerichtet hat, in den Weltraum übertragen.

Im September eines Jahrs des beschleunigenden Klimawandels, der KI-Explosion und des SpaceX-Börsengangs ist die Zukunft wieder so ungewiss wie vor 25 Jahren. Daher bin ich stolz und froh, mit unserem Team an der ETH einen kleinen Beitrag zu ihrer Gestaltung zu leisten.

I am Chloé, and while many space paths seem to point towards the USA, NASA or JPL, I felt drawn to Japan, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and a culture I knew would challenge me far beyond science. As part of the first cohort of a new programme, there was no established exchange path yet, so getting here meant searching, asking, hoping and slowly finding my own way.

Then Prof. Louise Harra from PMOD/WRC connected me with Prof. Toshifumi Shimizu at JAXA/ISAS, who accepted me as a student on a SOLAR-C related project studying the Sun and space weather. I was incredibly happy, but also thought: “Okay, now this is actually happening.”

The months before leaving were intense: visa papers, housing, exams and goodbyes all came at once. I chose to live in Tokyo to fully experience the city, knowing it would be overwhelming. I left Switzerland excited and nervous, hoping the path would start to make sense once I walked it.

Arriving in Japan was beautiful, but also very humbling. One of the first big challenges was the language. Japanese is not only a new language for me, but also a completely different writing system. Actually, three writing systems. Before coming here, I had learnt hiragana and katakana, but suddenly I was standing in front of a washing machine covered in kanji, trying to understand how to do laundry with Google Translate and AI. It sounds funny now, and in some way it was, but in that moment I realised how many simple things become difficult when you are far away from home.

My commute to JAXA/ISAS in Sagamihara became a daily lesson in humility, from taking the wrong train between local, (semi) express and rapid express lines to navigating Shinjuku Station like an escape room until, after two weeks, I finally found my way to work.

At JAXA/ISAS, I was welcomed with so much kindness, but being a student surrounded by experienced researchers and scientists can still feel intimidating. In my thesis meetings, several supervisors, postdocs and senior scientists join to discuss my progress, and although I am grateful for their support, I sometimes feel a quiet pressure to prove that I belong there. After one of my first meetings, I felt completely overwhelmed and out of place, unsure of my results, my words and whether I belonged in science at all. I wanted to talk to someone, but with the language barrier and my lab friends speaking Japanese, even sharing that frustration felt difficult. That day, I went home angry at myself, lay in bed and seriously wondered whether I should return to Switzerland.

I think this is one of the most honest parts of my journey here. I am still learning how to take up space in the space world. Not as someone who already knows everything. Not as someone who is always confident. But as someone who is curious, hardworking, sometimes overwhelmed, and still trying.

And then there are the small moments that make everything feel warmer. Every morning, a Japanese student in my lab teaches me a little kanji. We talk about our days, our weekends, our favourite things, and slowly I learn more than just characters. I learn small pieces of language, culture and friendship. In the afternoon, we often have oyatsu, a snack time where people gather, share sweets and talk. Sometimes I learn a new phrase. Sometimes I try to guess the meaning of a kanji. Sometimes I just listen and enjoy being part of it.

My lab also has a tradition of bringing souvenir snacks from trips. Each snack is recorded in a book with its origin and taste. I really love this. It is such a small thing, but it says so much about the group. These small rituals have helped me feel less like a visitor and more like someone who is slowly becoming part of a place.

Not every day feels easy. Even after three months, the language barrier still makes me feel lost, and I still doubt myself sometimes. But almost halfway through my stay, I also see myself changing: finding my way, asking more questions, and learning that feeling unsure does not mean failing.

This journey is about more than my master’s thesis at JAXA/ISAS. It is about finding courage in small moments, following a path that was not clearly laid out for me, and slowly making it mine.

In my role as Chief of Staff to the President, I have had the privilege of observing how ETH Zurich’s president, Joël Mesot, builds on and further develops the institution’s existing strengths. Step by step, this approach is helping to shape strategic directions that transform the university into a future-ready and resilient institution—one that is increasingly able to serve society in a world defined by growing complexity and uncertainty.

One illustrative example is ETH Zurich’s investment in the thematic area of space. At first glance, this may appear as a highly specialized scientific domain. Yet, on closer inspection, it becomes clear that space is not just a field of research — it is a strategic lens through which many of ETH Zurich’s ambitions come together.

There are four key reasons why this focus makes strategic sense:

• First, space is an environment where boundaries are continuously tested and extended. Each technological or scientific advance opens up new frontiers, while simultaneously deepening our understanding of Earth itself, from climate dynamics to planetary systems.

• Second, from an economic perspective, space stands out as a rapidly growing sector expected to sustain strong expansion over the coming decades. This growth is driven by innovation in satellite technology, the rise of data-driven applications, exploration, and emerging commercial models that increasingly position space as critical infrastructure for the global economy.

• Third, space missions and technologies demand an exceptional level of precision, reliability, and long-term robustness. While costs are undeniably significant, the real challenge lies elsewhere: in building systems that function flawlessly under extreme conditions over long periods of time. This engineering mindset closely aligns with Switzerland’s broader strengths in precision, quality, and reliability.

• Fourth, by developing strong capabilities in the space domain, ETH Zurich positions itself as an even more attractive destination for outstanding talent, from students to early-career researchers and established professors alike.

To translate this ambition into action, ETH Space serves as the key vehicle for implementation. It can be understood as a cross-cutting strategic platform that brings together research, education, entrepreneurship, industry collaboration, and science diplomacy. In doing so, it is closely aligned with ETH Zurich’s broader strategic framework and institutional priorities, and it enables their coordinated implementation in practice.

In particular, ETH Space strongly reinforces the priority of «Advancing and promoting the fundamentals», as space research naturally brings together fundamental science, advanced engineering, long time horizons, and high technological ambition. It also closely reflects the priority of «Mastering the continuous blurring of boundaries»—between engineering and science, academia and industry, civilian and governmental actors, as well as national and international collaboration.

ETH Space plays an important role in strengthening ETH Zurich’s international visibility and strategic positioning. It reinforces the university’s role in frontier science, European research ecosystems, and high-impact technological innovation. In this sense, ETH Space is not only an organisational structure, but also a strategic narrative: it helps articulate ETH Zurich’s ambition to contribute to solving grand challenges at a planetary scale.

In the coming months, we will publish a series of stories from colleagues at ETH Space, opening up their work and the exciting questions they are pursuing. Together, these perspectives will show how ETH Space contributes to ETH Zurich and beyond.  

Space invites us to rethink and to wonder. It is a perfect topic for public engagement, dialogue, and science communication, helping to make complex developments accessible and relevant to a broader public. ETH Zurich is seizing these opportunities, for example by launching wow², a new event that brings ETH Zurich and its research to life, and creates opportunities for direct encounters and conversations between researchers and visitors.

On 30 May 2026, wow² Space invites you on a journey into space: from lava tubes on the Moon to distant galaxies where stars are born and fade away — and back again to our blue planet, where satellites help us detect forest fires early, measure movements in the ice of the Alps, and even find our way to the nearest café. You can take a look behind the scenes of the missions that expand our understanding of space — and sharpen our view of Earth.

We warmly invite you to join us and rethink living!