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Bellevue-based launch management company Spaceflight Inc. on Thursday appointed former United Launch Alliance executive Tiphaine Louradour as its CEO.
Spaceflight produces satellite orbital delivery vehicles and provides launch management and satellite rideshare services.
“My goal in leading this organization is to build on its ground-breaking achievements and expand the launch and on-orbit service offerings beyond (low earth orbit),” Louradour said in a news release. “I’m very much looking forward to working with the team, as well as its customers and partners, to continue to evolve Spaceflight and especially its Sherpa OTV program, into its next phase of growth.”
Spaceflight, which has around 70 employees based in the Puget Sound region, has conducted 55 missions for its customers to date, with more than 450 payloads delivered to orbit.
Louradour most recently served as president of Virginia-based International Launch Services after spending 14 years at United Launch Alliance, a joint venture between The Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) and Lockheed Martin (NSE: LMT). She managed commercial sales and business development at United Launch Alliance.
Prior to that, she had roles at Lockheed Martin Commercial Launch Services and consulted for the telecommunications, health care and publishing industries. Louradour attained degrees in economics and business from the University of Paris-Dauphine and a master’s degree in business administration from the University of South Florida.
Louradour succeeds outgoing CEO Curt Blake, who has held the role since 2013. Blake will stay on in a supporting capacity for several weeks, the company said.
“I take great pride in the world-class operation we’ve built, achieving so many industry firsts on behalf of our customers. It’s quite humbling to reflect on what our team has accomplished,” Blake said, adding “I’ve long been impressed with Tiphaine and the timing is ideal to make a change — I couldn’t be more excited about the road ahead for Spaceflight.”
