Paula S. Trimble

Ms. Paula Trimble is the Vice President of Government Affairs and Strategy at Muon Space, where she drives strategic relationships and advocacy for the company’s efforts to deliver end-to-end space systems transforming mission-critical Earth intelligence for commercial and government users. Paula brings more than two decades of experience in defense and aerospace policy, acquisition, and federal relations to Muon, most recently serving in the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) as the Space Development Agency’s Director of Legislative and Interagency Engagement and Director of Small Business Programs.

At SDA, Paula crafted policy solutions to reduce barriers in the acquisition process and enable small businesses and start-ups to work more easily with the federal government. She developed and implemented SDA’s congressional engagement strategies in support of the annual defense appropriations and authorization processes, garnering broad support for the agency’s mission to accelerate delivery of missile tracking capabilities for the nation.

Paula has always been attracted to disruptive organizations at the nexus of policy and technology. She started her career in Washington, DC as a reporter at Space News and Federal Computer Week. She served in policy roles at the U.S. Department of Commerce Office of Space Commercialization, helping promote the expansion of commercial space markets, and later at the Office of Commercial Space Transportation in the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, helping shepherd a new reusable launch sector. Paula spent more than eight years overseeing multi-domain prototyping and experimentation efforts in the DoD’s Rapid Reaction Technology Office. From 2016 to 2021, she was Senior Principal at Lewis-Burke Associates LLC, leading the firm’s national security practice in support of university researchers, scientific societies, and national research and manufacturing institutes.

Paula and her family live in Springfield, VA, where she seems to collect hobbies. When she’s not cycling or practicing yoga, she’s a wine hobbyist and foodie always ready with a wine or restaurant recommendation. Paula chairs the judging committee for the annual Gerald R. Ford Prize for Reporting on National Defense and serves the board of The Holiday Project, a non-profit group organizing holiday visits with residents of nursing facilities and rehabilitation centers. She is also Communications Director for the Information Professionals Association, which provides a forum for the advancement of cognitive security and information operations. She is a member of Women in Aerospace and the U.S. Air and Space Forces Association. Paula is a 1998 graduate of The Pennsylvania State University, with a B.A. in Journalism, and minor degrees in Art History and Science, Technology, and Society.