D-Orbit is pleased to announce the appointment of Jonathan Firth as its Group Chief Operating Officer (COO). As Group COO, he will have overall responsibility for internal operations.
Jonathan comes to D-Orbit with a breadth of experience. In his previous role as Virgin Galactic’s Spaceport and Program Development Executive Vice President, he has been directly involved in the development of the commercial space industry in the United States since 2004. He was a founding member of the senior executive team that started up Virgin Galactic, The Spaceship Company, and Virgin Orbit, overseeing the development of a commercial suborbital spaceflight system at Mojave Air and Space Port in California, the spacecraft vehicle reaching space altitude in Q4 2018, and the creation of the Gateway to Space operating facility at Spaceport America in New Mexico.
According to Luca Rossettini, D-Orbit’s CEO, “With his impressive experience in the commercial space industry and a clear orientation towards growth, Jonathan is the person we need right now.”
“I am delighted to join the talented and innovative team at D-Orbit,” says Jonathan. “The company offers an environment with great ambition and impressive capabilities that embraces all stages in the life cycle of a space mission, and it is backed by investors who really understand the potential for significant growth.”
Jonathan is a mechanical engineering graduate of Imperial College London and holds an MBA from Henley Business School, UK. He is a regular keynote speaker on space activity and the space economy at international events, including support to educational and diversity initiatives.
D-Orbit dorbit.space
D-Orbit is a New Space company with solutions covering the entire lifecycle of a space mission, including mission analysis and design, engineering, manufacturing, integration, testing, launch, and end-of-life decommissioning.
The company’s competitive advantage is the versatility of its launch and deployment services that can be tailored to the customer’s needs, from the launch procurement of a single spacecraft using standard deployment strategies to the precise deployment of a full constellation with ION Satellite Carrier, a satellite dispenser developed and operated by D-Orbit.
Committed to pursuing business models that are profitable, friendly for the environment, and socially beneficial, D-Orbit is the first certified B-Corp space company in the world.
Headquartered in Como, Italy, D-Orbit has subsidiaries in Lisbon, Portugal, London, UK, and Washington DC, USA.
