Merry Walker

Biography

Merry Walker is Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Symphony Space, Inc., a Space-as-a-Service company building reusable orbital infrastructure that allows governments, research institutions and commercial operators to deploy and swap hardware in orbit without owning or operating a spacecraft. Through Symphony’s International Space Innovation Network, she connects governments and space institutions worldwide.

Ms. Walker previously served in senior U.S. government roles in diplomacy and technology policy. At the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (2025), she helped lead U.S. international strategy on AI, quantum, biotechnology, nuclear and space. At the U.S. State Department’s Office of the Special Envoy for Critical and Emerging Technology, she led multi-stakeholder partnerships across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. As Science and Technology Counselor and Space Attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Paris, she established the Space Working Group and led the inaugural U.S.-France Comprehensive Dialogue on Space, culminating in France’s accession to the Artemis Accords.

Her earlier career includes postings in Djibouti and Guangzhou, a role at the Bureau of Intelligence and Research, founding the nonprofit technology incubator Hatch International, and engineering work on advanced batteries at General Motors. She holds a Master of Engineering in Energy Engineering and a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan, and speaks French and Mandarin Chinese.

On the Space Diplomacy Council, Ms. Walker brings the combined perspective of diplomat, engineer and operator to satellite governance in a contested orbital domain.