spacetoday.net: Kistler hires former NASA, Boeing execs

Posted: Thu, Aug 12, 2004, 2:15 PM ET (1815 GMT)
Kistler K-1 illustration (Kistler Aero. Corp.)

Kistler Aerospace announced Wednesday that it has hired a pair of executives who previously worked for NASA and Boeing to give the RLV developer experienced new leadership. Kistler reported that Randy Brinkley will become the CEO of Kistler, while Will Trafton will be the president and COO. Brinkley formerly was the head of Boeing Satellite Systems; before that position he worked at NASA as an ISS program manager. Trafton had been president of Boeing Launch Systems and had served as NASA's associate administrator for spaceflight during the mid-1990s. Brinkley replaces George Mueller, an Apollo-era NASA official; Mueller will become the chairman of the company as well as chief vehicle architect. Kistler has been working on the K-1, a reusable launch vehicle, since the 1990s, but has been slowed by a lack of funding. The company entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in July 2003 and is working to raise an estimated $500 million needed to complete the vehicle. Company officials said they hope to exit Chapter 11 by the end of the year, and the first K-1 flight could take place 18 months later.