The organizational changes will support the Company's core near-term objectives of delivering increased flight frequency and executing on rapid fleet development plans.
As part of this leadership update, Swami Iyer, President, Aerospace Systems, will be departing from his position, effective January 12, 2023. He will continue to serve as an advisor to Michael Colglazier, CEO of the Company, until March 3, 2023 to ensure a smooth transition.
"With the completion of the enhancement program for our mothership at hand, our streamlined leadership structure will help propel the business forward as we prepare for commercial spaceline operations," said Colglazier. "Swami has been instrumental in establishing our future production strategy and in leading the work to prepare our initial ships for commercial flight, and we are incredibly grateful for his contribution. Our experienced leadership team brings deep expertise to the next exciting phase for the Company – flying our customers safely and regularly to space and expanding our future fleet."
The leadership team of industry veterans leading Virgin Galactic's spaceline operations includes:
Mike Moses, President, Spaceline Missions and Safety
Moses has led flight and mission operations at Virgin Galactic since 2011 following his seventeen-year career at NASA, where he led space shuttle launch operations until the shuttle retired from service in 2011.
Mike Moore, Executive Vice President, Spaceline Technical Operations
Moore joined Virgin Galactic in 2022 following a long and successful career as SVP, Technical Operations with Delta Airlines. His team at Virgin Galactic works to ensure vehicles are manufactured, maintained, and sustained to the highest standards of quality, reliability, and efficiency.
Steve Justice, Senior Vice President, Spaceline Programs and Engineering
Justice – a 39-year veteran of Lockheed Martin and a "legend" in its Skunk Works division – leads the design, engineering, and program management of Virgin Galactic's spaceflight system and future fleet development.
Planned upgrades of VMS Eve are complete, and the mothership is expected to enter ground tests next week before commencing flight tests to verify the enhancements to the ship. Commercial service remains on track to begin in Q2 2023.
Air101: Virgin Galactic rapidly growing with new spaceship manufacturing facility in Mesa, Arizona
