Matt Bille brings ideas to life at Booz Allen and beyond
“We’re now seeing the future I saw growing up only in science fiction. People can go to space as tourists and reusable rockets are flying every day, opening up commerce. And we’ve made leaps in robotic exploration with a renewed interest in human exploration.”
– Matt Bille, Booz Allen space writer and researcher
Matt Bille has supported Booz Allen’s space business since 2001, researching markets, technologies, and programs for clients and putting together a written history of military space operations for the firm.
But these are just two aspects of a multifaceted career. Matt’s writing has taken him from outer space to the deepest oceans, from serving in the Air Force to inventing fictional worlds. It’s a life of learning with even more adventures ahead.
Matt shares his story here.
A Childhood Surrounded by Inspiration
Matt grew up south of Cape Canaveral in Florida. “You saw space on the news, read about it in the newspapers, and talked about it at school,” he remembers.
“Astronauts and scientific explorers have always been my heroes,” Matt says. In addition to being able to take tours and see moon rockets, he was lucky. He was able to see the Apollo launches. He was at Edwards Air Force Base when the first Shuttle landed. And he met two astronauts, Jack Schmitt and Buzz Aldrin, who walked on the moon.
Another influence was closer to home: an encouraging family.
“My parents loved to read,” Matt says. “We never had much money, but we had books and watched documentaries, and they encouraged us kids to get library cards. When I first started writing (badly) as a teenager, they were all for it, and they still read everything I write.”
Turning a Longtime Fascination into a Career
During his career, Matt has written over 30 papers and articles on space exploration, space history, microsatellites, and launch vehicles.
This professional path began in the Air Force, where Matt served as an officer specializing in intercontinental ballistic missiles and command and control systems for over a decade. After transitioning from the military, he worked as a senior research analyst with a public service research institute, investigating small launch vehicles and satellites.
This experience led to Booz Allen, where he supported clients and served as a “volunteer evangelist” for employee publications and use of professional conferences in the space sector and across the firm.
“Most Americans used to think about space primarily in terms of the astronauts,” Matt says. “Thanks to GPS and communication satellites, there’s now increasing awareness that space is an invaluable part of everyday life, commerce, education, and defense.”
Microsatellites and Moby Dick
Growing up, Matt was also intrigued by ocean life and other animals. This interest led him and a Booz Allen team to bring together their space expertise in a challenge on the open seas.
“I was a freelance writer working on endangered, unknown, and recently extinct species, about which I’ve written three books,” he says. “I talked to the three leading American cetology experts about whales, and one thing that became clear was that we needed more information.”
“We don’t always know where whales are, and that makes it harder to protect them and prevent ship collisions,” he explains. “That idea gelled in my mind with my longtime interest in small satellites.”
Matt collaborated with Booz Allen experts in software, environmental science, and biology on an effort called “Project WHALES” (Whale/Habitat Advanced Location and Exploration Smallsats).
After two years of earning funding, speaking with experts in whale tracking, and creating models, the team presented their research paper, “Microsatellites and Moby Dick.” It details how small satellite technology in the skies can help protect marine creatures in oceans that are miles below.
“The software can plot the tagged whales’ courses, and we can study the sound they make and the sounds that impinge on them from ships and other sources,” Matt says.
A Life of Exploration and Ideas
Looking ahead, Matt has even more projects in the works.
In the area of space history, he has worked with other Booz Allen volunteers to write about the Explorer series of small satellites, one of NASA’s longtime programs for earth and space science. He’s also developing a history of the Air Force’s Blue Scout program, which inspired the Guardian Scout rapid launch system.
In addition, Matt is capturing his research and bringing his ideas to life in books, both nonfiction and fiction. In addition to his three zoology books and two novels so far, he has another book in the works. Seas, Sharks, and Serpents will cover discoveries in marine life and the folklore and exploration of the oceans. Another work in progress is a scientific thriller called Apex Predator—“it’s sort of like Jaws meets Jurassic Park, in which a prehistoric predatory fish called Dunkleosteus, an orca-sized animal with heavy armor and terrifying teeth, might have survived,” says Matt.
“I love those kinds of novels. What I’m trying to do with Apex Predator is elevate them by telling a story about complex characters and accurate science,” he says. In addition to his own writing, Matt reviews others’ books and discusses scientific topics in his blog, Matt’s Sci/Tech Blog, which has been active since 2005.
“I just want to know and research and develop ideas,” Matt says. “I have more ideas than I will ever be able to explore.”