Voyager Space Holdings, Inc. (Voyager), a global leader in space exploration, today announced the appointment of Tom Ayres as Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel.
Tom Ayres most recently served as the 20th General Counsel of the U.S. Air Force. During his tenure, Ayres led his team to draft and implement the legislation creating the Space Force, simultaneously becoming the first General Counsel for the U.S. Space Force.
“The interplay between the public and private sectors plays a critical role in today’s space ecosystem,” said Dylan Taylor, CEO and chairman of Voyager. “As a demonstrated leader with a decorated record at the Department of Defense, Tom is a tremendous addition to Voyager. We are grateful to have him join the team and eager to leverage his unique skill set to further Voyager’s mission.”
Throughout his career, Tom has been at the forefront of advising strategic leaders to support organizations as they transform and adapt to the age of information technology, big data and virtual services. With extensive litigation experience early in his career, he also completed multiple combat tours in Afghanistan and Iraq as the principal legal advisor to commanders during combat operations. During his time at the Pentagon, Tom was responsible for compliance and investigations service-wide, and often advised on diverse national security, technology transformation and compliance strategies.
“As General Counsel of the U.S. Air Force and Space Force, I had a front row seat to the immense opportunities that the final frontier can offer,” said Ayres. “I am looking forward to applying this expertise to help the entire Voyager organization continue to ensure the United States and our partners remain the leaders in space technology for the benefit of all mankind.”
Tom’s appointment is another in a long sequence of major personnel announcements at Voyager which include industry leaders such as Former NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, Former Commercial Spaceflight President Eric Stallmer and former Undersecretary of Defense, Ellen Lord.
Tom is a distinguished graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point. He began his military career as an airborne rifle platoon leader in Italy. He earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Pennsylvania, School of Law. Tom is the recipient of the Distinguished Service Medal and is a three time awardee of the Bronze Star.
About Voyager Space Holdings, Inc.
Voyager Space Holdings, Inc. is a global leader in space exploration. Voyager’s long-term mission is to create a vertically integrated, publicly traded NewSpace company capable of delivering any space mission humans can conceive. The firm’s first-in-industry model is uniquely tailored to support the growth needs of commercial space companies by replacing traditional private capital models with a longer-term approach that provides permanent capital. Voyager is led by founders and space industry veterans Dylan Taylor and Matthew Kuta, along with the Board of Directors which includes National Security Expert and four-star Air Force General William Shelton; leading institutional investor Gabe Finke; world-leading planetary scientist, Dr. Alan Stern; noted public company director and former U.S. undersecretary of technology Dr. Cheryl Shavers; experienced technology executive, board director, and financial leader, Marian Joh; and former undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment, Ellen Lord. To learn more about Voyager Space Holdings, Inc., please visit: https://voyagerspace.com/
