Laura Delgado Lopez is a Non-Resident Space Policy Fellow at the William J. Perry Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies. In this role, she brings subject matter expertise and supports the Center’s growing research initiatives, educational events, and programs related to space activities in the Western Hemisphere.

With nearly 15 years working in space policy in the Washington, DC area, Ms. Delgado Lopez' career has spanned industry, the nonprofit sector, and currently, government. She is a policy advisor in the policy branch of NASA's Science Mission Directorate, which provides policy support to the agency's science leadership. In September 2024, she completed a visiting fellowship at the Americas Program of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), focusing on the politics and policy of space programs in Latin America. Her tenure at CSIS was funded by a 2023-2024 International Affairs Fellowship from the Council on Foreign Relations.

Prior to her career in government, Ms. Delgado López was an advocacy lead in the Space and Intelligence Systems Segment of Harris Corporation, a project manager at the Secure World Foundation (SWF), an Earth observations associate at the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies, and a correspondent for SpacePolicyOnline.com. She is also a former editor-in-chief of Elsevier's Space Policy, a peer-reviewed international publication focused on the interdisciplinary study of space activities. She served two terms as an advisor to SWF. Her research on space policy and international cooperation, with a particular focus on Latin America, has appeared in trade and peer-reviewed publications, as well as in media outlets in English and Spanish. She holds a master's degree in international science and technology policy with a focus on space policy from George Washington University and a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Puerto Rico.