Ronnie M. Lajoie
Member, NSS Membership Policy Committee
Member, Internet Services and Membership Support Teams
Ronnie Lajoie proves that it pays to hold on to your dreams. Growing up a kid on welfare, watching episodes of Lost in Space, fuzzy videos of men bouncing on the Moon, and later reruns of Star Trek, he could only hope and dream that someday he would be part of the space program. Throughout grade school, college, and even early professional employment, there were many more people telling him to give up his dreams of flying in space — let alone living there someday — than there were providing encouragement.
All that changed in May 1991, when Ronnie flew 2000 miles on a whim and a prayer to attend the 1991 International Space Development Conference (ISDC). There, he met hundreds of people who not only shared his dream, but were also living it! (Thank you Carol and Joe Redfield!) Ronnie joined NSS shortly thereafter and has been an increasingly active member ever since. He quickly learned that the democratic NSS and its inclusive chapter system provides an excellent training ground to turn a space acolyte into a space leader.
Mr. Lajoie moved to Huntsville, Alabama in 1991 and joined its local chapter, the Huntsville Alabama L5 Society (HAL5) in 1992. He helped make a success of their 1993 ISDC, and since 1992 (except 2009-10) served as an HAL5 Officer in various roles (Secretary, Vice-President, and later Treasurer). He also served as Editor of HAL5’s newsletter (1995-2000) and developed the first HAL5 Web site. He was also a member of HAL5’s rockoon Project HALO team. In 1995, Ronnie Lajoie received the HAL5 Professional of the Year Award.
In 1997, Mr. Lajoie was elected to the NSS Board of Advisors. As an Advisor, he participated in two NSS Strategic Planning workshops plus an NSS Policy Summit, where he helped draft the NSS Statement of Philosophy, and helped define the NSS Roadmap to Space Settlement. After his second term expired on the bottom-up NSS Chapters’ Assembly, Ronnie became an active member of the top-down Chapters Committee, where he helped to raise money for new NSS signs and banners. He also volunteered to maintain and enhance the Chapter Database, an Excel file that he is working to convert into an online database nicknamed NODAC. One of the many interim products is a partially automated chapter directory on the NSS website.
Ronnie joined the NSS top leadership in 2000, when he was elected to a four year term on the NSS Board of Directors. In addition to his fiduciary duties as a Director, including being a Buzz Aldrin Council level donor, Mr. Lajoie also served on the Public Affairs Committee (to promote and further develop the NSS Roadmap) and on the Policy Committee. He also served an interim term as NSS Secretary.
In 2004, Ronnie chaired his first regional conference, on Exploring and Privateering Space. Also in 2004, Mr. Lajoie was assigned to an ad-hoc NSS Governance Committee to review the state of the NSS organization and make recommendations for improvement. One key recommendation that was acted upon was the creation of the NSS Corporate Policies document, which codified and improved upon many existing but poorly documented NSS policies and practices, and which established a clear chain of command for NSS operations.
Although reelected to another four year term on the NSS Board of Directors, Ronnie resigned in 2005 so that he could focus on NSS operations, joining a dedicated team of top activists ready to build on the framework provided by the new NSS Corporate Policies document. In 2005, Ronnie Lajoie was awarded the highest honor NSS can bestow on a volunteer, the Christopher Pancratz Space Activist of the Year Award. Also, starting in 2005, Ronnie has become a regular participant in the annual “Legislative Space Blitz” of the NSS-formed Space Exploration Alliance (SEA) to meet with members of Congress about space-related budgets and legislation.
From 2005 to 2006, Mr. Lajoie served as the initial Chair of the new Internet Services Committee (ISC), and helped to define its relationship with the equally new Web Oversight Committee (WOC). He also served as a member of the Membership Committee, where he found common ground with the ISC and his NODAC Project, creating online forms for joining, renewing, or giving an NSS membership. Ronnie thereafter served as the Acting Chair of the ISC until 2018 and worked with the WOC to bring the NSS website into the 21st century.
In 2006, Mr. Lajoie was elected for a two year term as NSS Vice President for Membership, and served as Chair of the Membership Committee. In 2008, Mr. Lajoie helped to formulate an NSS Strategic Plan and was appointed a member of the newly-formed Strategic Planning Committee. After completing his term as Membership VP, Ronnie has remained an active member of the Membership Committee (now the Membership Policy Committee) ever since, helping formulate the first NSS Privacy Policy, in 2009; helping to plan an execute dues structure revisions and enhancements in 2010, and leading the development of a revised NSS Membership Policy in 2009 (and again in 2010 and 2024).
Ronnie rejoined the NSS top leadership in 2014, when he was elected to a two-year term on the NSS Board of Directors (Region 5). In 2015, Mr. Lajoie was elected for another two-year term as NSS Vice President for Membership, and served as Membership Committee Chair until 2022. He led the restructuring of the Committee to divide its many responsibilities and pushed down many of its functions to three new subcommittees (Growth, Services, and Value Enhancement). The new VES chair, Burt Dicht, moved up to replace Ronnie as Vice-President in 2017 and now serves as the Managing Director of Membership at NSS Headquarters. In 2024, Ronnie was once more elected to a two-year term on the NSS Board of Directors (Region 5).
(NSS does not yet pay the rent however…)
For pay, and often for fun and/or experience, Mr. Lajoie worked as an aerospace systems engineer for over 30 years in the aerospace industry on a variety of space and missile programs. His space systems engineering and flight mechanics analysis skills were applied to numerous efforts including the NASA Space Launch System (SLS) program, the DARPA Airborne Launch Assist Space Access (ALASA) program, the NASA Vision for Space Exploration (VSE) and its Ares launch vehicle programs, the NASA Space Launch Initiative (SLI) and other Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) efforts, and various Affordable In-Space Transportation studies.
