Meet Chantelle Baier of 4SPACE

Today we’d like to introduce you to Chantelle Baier.

Hi Chantelle, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself. 
I grew up in Canada with a dream of one day going to the Moon. My journey started out in geology on a full scholarship and a slight pivot to design in my early 20s. When I realized the entertainment and fashion design industries generate a lot of revenue, I knew that I had to bridge these industries together to create more opportunities in science. I ended up interning at NASA Ames under Dr. Chris McKay, which led to diving back into the Space Industry. In 2017, I formed a company to focus on my diverse skillsets. This lead me to working with large enterprise entities to shift their focus to space. The Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program started, which was perfect fit for 4SPACE and our technical capabilities as well as our marketing hat. I reached out to Intuitive Machines and obtained a contract in 2021 for a payload to be placed on the Moon. Over the next few years, we dove into our lunar project and are now leaders in the industry. 

We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
We faced many challenges along the way. Since we are working in an industry that is developing, and as a pioneer, we must spend a lot of time on walking people through the opportunities from the technical standpoint right through to the branding and marketing opportunities that are now opening up as well. NASA and gov’t entities aren’t able to do out-of-the-box projects. 4Space is able to. Our challenge at the intersection of NASA and non-traditional space companies is making sure we navigating the expectations of what is possible and what is not, as we’re designing our projects to be aesthetically pleasing and pass our NASA safety verifications. One example is the art gallery that was placed on the moon a month ago. We knew that the Lunar Lander served a very important focus to test sensors and instruments that is critical to the safety of the astronauts that will be landing on the moon on future missions of the Artemis program. We knew we had the opportunity to bring culture to the moon, and we knew that this would be placed there forever, so from that lens, we knew this project must bring culture, serve technical capabilities, and generate revenue that we can place into programs and donate to charity. 

We commissioned Jeff Koons to develop 125 sculptures to be placed on the moon. We worked with Jeff to ensure that we met his aesthetic, and we had to analyze everything, from 24K gold to off-gassing of polish, and keep everything within our safety constraints. The moon has very little access, and nothing is standard. So, we were required to do testing of everything, and we had to bring a lot of experts ranging from lunar regolith and isotropic radiation to regulations within the Artemis Accords. 

Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about 4SPACE, LLC?
I founded 4SPACE in 2017 to serve as a vehicle to bring non-traditional companies into the space industry. We knew that the Space industry would be opening up, and with our technical background and experience in Entertainment and Design, we could bridge this gap. 4SPACE is the First Woman-Owned space company. On Feb. 22, 2024, we became the first Woman-Owned company on the Moon by placing our “Jeff Koons Moon Phases” payload on the Moon. This achievement opened the door to 4SPACE as the leader in technical, commercial, and cultural projects for the moon and in space. We’re pushing the boundaries and taking commercialization to new heights. 

Can you share something surprising about yourself?
I used to box with Manny Pacquiao. I trained with him from 2008-2011 and did 1500 sit-ups every day. Since having my daughter, I stopped boxing. 

Contact Info:

• Website: www.4space.co, www.jeffkoonsmoonphases.com
• Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/chantellebaier

Image Credits
Intuitive Machines
Jeff Koons
Chris Farina
SpaceX