About MRI Technologies
Where Mission Expertise Meets Software Innovation
Our Story
MRI Technologies is a woman-owned aerospace engineering and technology company headquartered near Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.
MRI Technologies traces its roots to Mathematical Research Incorporated, a small firm supporting NASA's first human spaceflight programs. In 1988, Debbie Kropp acquired the company, reincorporating as MRI Technologies to focus on the ISS and Space Shuttle Program era. Over the next three decades, MRI became a steady, trusted partner to NASA through every phase of human spaceflight.
In 2025, Lauren Estes and Paige Tucker purchased MRI Technologies, continuing its legacy of women-owned leadership and guiding the company into its next chapter: the Artemis era. Under their direction, MRI has deepened its commitment to building software platforms that are only possible because of the mission expertise and engineering talent behind them. When your team has spent decades embedded in NASA's hardest problems, the systems you build carry that knowledge forward.
Today, MRI's team of engineers, scientists, and technologists delivers decades of institutional spaceflight knowledge through modern software engineering. Our platforms support Artemis, the International Space Station, and programs across multiple NASA centers. We hold the ATOs. We operate the infrastructure. And we ship real systems for real missions.
The institutional knowledge and engineering rigor we have built over three decades at NASA increasingly serves partners across aerospace, defense, energy, and beyond.
We are not a staffing company that happens to do technology. We are a technology company whose people happen to be the best in aerospace.
Our Beliefs
We believe in the profound importance of NASA, space exploration, and advancing humanity's understanding of science and technology, for all of humanity, both those living today and generations to come.
We believe that a small, women-led business with a team of passionate, respectful, and determined people can be a key and necessary driver of innovation in this pursuit.
We believe that we do not exist to maximize profit. We build for the long term. Financial discipline sustains our mission and funds the innovations that shape the future of space exploration.
Our Values
Our core values are principles we hold inviolable. Beliefs we would continue to hold even when costly to do so. These are timeless principles that define who we are and how we show up every day.
Integrity
We do what we say we will do. When we make a promise, to a customer, a partner, or each other, we keep it. We don't cut corners when no one is watching. We don't tell customers what they want to hear; we tell them what they need to know.
Courage
We pursue bold goals despite uncertainty. We invest in the future before it's proven. We admit when we're wrong and stand up for what we think is right. We take the time to pause and understand what kind of courage a moment requires.
Generosity
We are curious and always seeking to improve ourselves, our team, and our company. We share our knowledge, expertise, and resources freely. We believe that generosity creates abundance, not scarcity.
Growth
We never stop learning. We believe there is something to learn from every person we encounter. We embrace change and view challenges as opportunities to grow. We admit our mistakes and learn from them. We are personally committed to continuous improvement and exhibit the willingness to change.
Respect
We listen, empathize, and recognize that kindness fosters collaboration. We treat everyone with empathy and fairness. Kindness fosters collaboration, loyalty, and an environment where people thrive. When we fail, we help each other up. When one of us wins, we all win.
Our Mission
To be a magnet for those who seek to contribute to humanity's most ambitious pursuits in science and technology.
This purpose would remain true even if MRI pivoted entirely away from aerospace. Whether we work on space exploration, deep-sea discovery, or quantum computing, we will always attract those who want to contribute to our mission.
To deliver world-class engineering services and software capabilities to power humanity's next era of space exploration: to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.
Our capabilities serve the broader ecosystem of organizations operating in the most complex and demanding environments on and off Earth.
Our Culture
The behaviors and characteristics that emerge from living our values every day.
Humility AND Pride
As individuals, we have no ego and remain open to learning from anyone. As MRI, we have a big ego. We're proud of what we've accomplished, and we're confident in our ability to attract, develop, and empower the greatest talent in aerospace and technology. This tension is intentional: personal humility creates space for growth, while collective pride fuels our ambition.
We Celebrate Our Wins
Aerospace is a tough league to get a hit in. It requires tenacity and resilience. In an environment filled with high stakes, high speed cycles of test, failure, iteration and innovation, we believe it is important to stop and enjoy the magic of the moments when all of that hard work comes together to create a new capability, successful mission or project completion.
Together We Rise
In an industry known for being cutthroat, we dare to do things differently. When someone in our field does something better than we can, we don't try to reinvent the wheel. We partner with them. This commitment to collaboration is one of our core values, and it has led to mutually beneficial relationships with some of the largest commercial technology companies in the industry.
Build With Us
NASA Programs: Partner with a team embedded across NASA for 35+ years.
Commercial & Government Partners: Access institutional spaceflight knowledge and modern platform capabilities for your most demanding environments.
Engineers & Technologists: Small team, big work, real missions.
Collaborators: Let's work together to dare mighty things and go after new opportunities to create more mission impact.