Sometime in the future, when America leads the first manned mission to Mars, University of Arizona Global Campus (UAGC) graduate Victor Corrales will be among those who helped make it happen.
The first of six siblings to earn his college degree, Victor is building a future for himself while furthering humanity’s future in space as a production planner for Redwire, a global developer of space infrastructure. The Jacksonville-based company is recognized for its success in building advanced solar arrays, 3D-printed spacecraft parts, in-space manufacturing systems, and components for the International Space Station and NASA's Artemis program.
As a production planner at Redwire, Victor oversees the making of solar panels for the Gateway Program, NASA's upcoming mission back to the moon. His work requires detailed planning and problem-solving for what will be an historic mission, and Victor ensures materials are ready, schedules run smoothly, and obstacles are addressed with contingency plans.
“I find it amazing that I’m part of something that’s going to go up in space,” says Victor, who earned his Bachelor of Arts in Operations Management and Analysis from UAGC in 2024. “It’s overwhelming. Ten years ago, I would have never thought I’d be where I am today, and I can’t wait until it launches.”
Victor describes his role as overseeing every aspect of a product’s journey from start to finish — a responsibility he never fully appreciated until he stepped into the role and saw firsthand how he could apply his leadership and critical thinking skills to further his career and his company.
After starting community college and earning some credits toward his associate degree, Victor attended UAGC to pursue his Bachelor of Arts in Operations Management and Analytics, a program designed to give students a foundation of analytical skills and management strategies. At UAGC, Victor found himself right at home in courses such as Business Systems Analysis, Production Operations Control, and Management for Organizations.
“I felt like everything that I do as a production planner is exactly that,” he says. “I have to look ahead, I have to confirm, ‘Do we have the right amount of people? Are our vendors going to meet our timeline? Is there a critical path that might be affected?
“It’s crazy because all the classes I was taking, I could apply them the next day. And I would find myself saying, ‘Oh, this is what we’re taking about in school!’”
Family Matters
Growing up, Victor aspired to be an engineer. He didn’t know the role of production planner would match his personality and his education so perfectly.
“Production planners are in charge of everything as far as managing the process from start to end,” he says. “And I just fell in love with it, and I said, ‘I want to be in that position.’
“I talked to a couple of production planners, and when they told me the degree they had, I said, ‘Okay, I’m going to go for that.’”
Encouraged by one of his brothers, Victor entered the aerospace industry when he was 18 years old. Envisioning a career in which he’d have a greater say in the planning and production process, he views college as the ideal path, one that could inspire his entire family – and it’s a large one.
Victor is a twin, with two older brothers, an older sister, and a younger sister. His twin sister always watched over him growing up, he says, and encouraged him when he was having trouble keeping his grades up in middle school and high school.
“She’s always been the one to watch over me and tell me I had to do better,” he says. “Going to college was different. I knew that I had to grow up and really hit the books if I wanted to do something with my life.”
Today, Victor is excelling in work and college.
“I’m happy to say that I’m ending college with a GPA of 3.98,” she exclaims.
That’s a remarkable achievement, considering the challenges Victor has overcome in his life. He and his siblings were raised by their single mother who worked three jobs. Victor credits her with being his inspiration and the guide for the whole family.
Sadly, her health took a turn when Victor was in his early teens, and he says that affected his schoolwork and the way he interacted with people.
Jobs in his teenage years helped Victor stay focused, and at 18, he was able to buy a house for himself and his mother to live in. It was just the first gift to her. The second was finishing his degree.
“It makes the moment a lot better, knowing that she’s here and that she saw me graduate,” he says. “I pulled a lot of strength from my mom.”
Though his mother has recovered, Victor has struggled with health problems that threatened to derail his academic career and, possibly, his life.
“My heart’s been overworked since I was 16,” he says. “The doctor said I had the heart of a 65-year-old because it was running extremely fast.”
Two heart surgeries later, he feels better but is still struggling with medical issues. That’s one reason why he chose UAGC over a brick-and-mortar school. During a recent hospitalization, Victor says focusing on his schoolwork and receiving encouragement from his family helped him stay positive.
“She told me I shouldn’t give up because it’s going to be a lot harder for me to get back to it, and I wouldn’t want to live with the what if?” he says. “So, I continued pushing forward, and I feel much better.”

Victor Corrales (center), shown here with his wife, mother, sister, nieces, and nephews, hopes to inspire the younger generation in his family to "aim high."
Future Forward
The Gateway Program will serve as a key part of NASA’s Artemis mission and the international effort to build a space station around the moon. Gateway will serve as a staging point for deeper space exploration, including future missions to Mars.
Victor is in an excellent position to be involved, but for now his goal is to first see his current assignment through to its completion. After that, he is considering a master’s degree to strengthen his expertise and hopefully land a role as a master production planner, where he would be responsible for multiple programs with more say in the planning process.
In addition to arming him with the skills he needs to succeed, Victor says college has given him the confidence to get ahead and the ability to take pride in his accomplishments.
The latter he credits to UAGC Program Chair Bill Davis, who has encouraged him to showcase his achievements for others to see.
“I always say ‘I’m a production planner,’ but he says I need to own it,” Victor explains. “He says, ‘You know, you work for aerospace, you make solar arrays, and that is huge, and you need to make sure you put it out there.’
“So, he taught me to be more confident and proud of myself.”
That’s a lesson Victor intends to pass on to the next generation. Though he and his wife don’t have kids, yet, they are the “cool” uncle and aunt to 12 nieces and nephews. With several of them nearing college-age, Victor wants to set an example.
“My mother didn’t get a degree, she didn’t graduate high school, and her biggest goal was for us to finish and be something,” he says. “I’m trying to be an example for them because I don’t want them to stop at a bachelor’s, I want them to go for what they want to be.”
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Student success stories should not be interpreted as a promise or guarantee of career advancement or future earnings. The stories shared here represent the outcomes of individual students for illustrative purposes only.