Launch Readiness · Aerospace Integration · Robotics
Co-founder & CTO of Starport Space, helping satellite and payload teams get launch-ready. Founder of Tankline Robotics.Previously Integration Test Technician IV at SpaceX Starbase and Test Technician III at Stoke Space. GTAW-certified aerospace welder and U.S. Army National Guard airborne infantry paratrooper.
Experience
Roberto Vela III
Robotics · Industrial IoT · Field Automation
Rev A Prototype Build · Oct 2026Clamp-on tank level sensors and a robot valve operator for frac water transfer, so crews get alerts before a tank overflows or runs dry. Founded February 2026.
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Featured in
Better Call Daddy
Episode 502 · Host Reena Friedman Watts · September 17, 2026
Guest appearance with host Reena Friedman Watts — SpaceX career, military discipline, and fatherhood as a young dad.
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Roberto Vela III is co-founder and CTO of Starport Space, a Houston-based company that provides managed U.S. launch access and payload-readiness and integration coordination for satellite and payload teams. He is also the founder of Tankline Robotics, which builds clamp-on tank level sensors and a robot valve operator for frac water transfer. He is based in Houston, TX.
Before founding companies, he was an Integration Test Technician IV at SpaceX Starbase (2020–2022), working Starship and Booster integration across GTAW welding, fabrication, critical lifts, and vehicle operations, and held a national crane operator certification. At Stoke Space (2022–2025) he was a Test Technician III across vehicle manufacturing, fabrication and welding, testing, launch operations, and recovery.
He is a GTAW-certified aerospace welder and serves in the U.S. Army National Guard. He was an airborne infantry paratrooper with the 1-143rd Infantry Regiment and is currently a fire team leader.
2
Companies Founded
2
Aerospace Companies
5+
Years Aerospace Hardware
Hands-on SpaceX and Stoke Space experience supporting propulsion hardware, cryogenic/fluid systems, vehicle integration, functional checkouts, and launch and test operations.
Experienced in structured test procedures, pass/fail closeouts, hardware anomaly documentation, issue-ticket escalation, and cross-functional corrective action.
Designed and supported pressure panels, fixtures, tooling kits, and controlled work instructions to improve repeatability, readiness, and technician execution.
Currently prototyping embedded control systems using Arduino, Node.js dashboards, actuator logic, telemetry validation, and firmware safety interlocks.