Firefly Space Systems, Inc., a New Space developer of dedicated launch vehicles for the small satellite market, announced today that aerospace veteran Anne Chinnery has joined its growing team as the company’s first Launch and Test Director. She will report to and work directly with Firefly Co-Founder and CEO Dr. Thomas Markusic.
Ms. Chinnery brings almost three decades of active experience working at leading aerospace industry organizations both in the public and private sectors. She served as an officer in the U.S. Air Force, where she managed test and launch activities at Vandenberg Air Force Base (AFB) and most recently served in
similar senior roles at leading New Space companies. Ms. Chinnery holds a Bachelor’s Degree from the Air Force Academy and Master’s Degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology, with specialties in rocket propulsion and attitude dynamics.
“I’ve had the good fortune to work with Anne in the past. Our team is incredibly encouraged to have her join our efforts and lead the development of Firefly’s launch and test capability,” said Firefly CEO Dr. Thomas Markusic. “Anne will immediately put her skills to work in an impactful way by leading activation of the new site and testing our first rocket engines. She will also work to finalize our launch site selection and build a world class rocket launch team.”
The timing of Ms. Chinnery’ s hiring coincides with the company’s completion earlier this month of its new, state-of-the-art rocket test site facility located innearby Briggs, TX. The site was constructed by Test Site Manager Joel Waldrum’s team in just eight months.
The Briggs site is one of several candidates to house Firefly’s primary manufacturing facility, where the Company plans to build up to 50 “Alpha” vehicles per year and create up to 200 additional jobs with an annual payroll of approximately $15 million by 2019. The last months have been a period of strong growth on the personnel front, which has seen the Firefly team expand to over 60 members.
“I’m obviously thrilled to join the team here at Firefly,” said Ms. Chinnery. “The future is in space. Young, innovative and revolutionary companies like ours are going to be the ones to get us there. I’m looking forward to being a part of shaping our next steps into space,” she added.
“Bottom line is that Anne is a proven leader in test and launch environments and embodies the smart, no-nonsense, “let’s just get it done” attitude that is highly valued at Firefly,” Markusic added.
ABOUT FIREFLY SPACE SYSTEMS
Firefly is a small satellite launch company located in Cedar Park, TX which was created to provide low-cost, high-performance space launch capability for the under-served small satellite market, where secondary-payload launches are often the only option. The Firefly team includeshighly experienced aerospace engineers that have spent the better part of the past decade working at NASA and various New Space companies, including SpaceX, Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic.
Simplified and optimized for least cost, and utilizing innovations such as a rethought engine design, Firefly has positioned itself to be the technological and cost effective solution leader for traditional manufacturers of small satellites for government agencies, earth observation, and constellation customers.
Contact Phone Email
Maureen Gannon 415.690.7787
maureen@fireflyspace.com
