WASHINGTON — Voyager Space has hired a Blue Origin executive as its chief revenue officer as it continues to expand and prepare for an initial public offering.
Voyager announced Dec. 20 that it hired Clay Mowry as chief revenue officer, responsible for revenue and sales operations at Voyager. The company said his hiring is part of a “new focus around sales” as Voyager continues to expand by acquiring companies, most recently Space Micro.
“Clay is a proven industry leader, who has spent his entire career enabling the advancement of commercial space,” said Matthew Kuta, president of Voyager Space, in the statement, adding that Mowry “will have a significant impact on our future growth plans and strategic capabilities.”
Mowry was most recently vice president of global sales at Blue Origin, which operates the New Shepard suborbital vehicle and is developing the New Glenn launch vehicle. He was at the latest New Shepard flight Dec. 11 whose passengers included Dylan Taylor, chairman and chief executive of Voyager.
Before joining Blue Origin, Mowry was the longtime head of Arianespace Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of Arianespace. In October, he was elected president of the International Astronautical Federation, the organization that runs the annual International Astronautical Congress and other events.
“Voyager is generating real momentum in the space industry and has proven that it is dedicated to leading the charge for the future of space exploration,” Mowry said in the statement. “I am eager to make my mark and join an incredibly talented group of industry peers to help scale the Voyager business in the years to come.”
Voyager has been building up what it calls a “vertically integrated NewSpace company” through a series of acquisitions. In addition to Space Micro, it has acquired Altius Space Machines, The Launch Company, Nanoracks, Pioneer Astronautics and Valley Tech Systems.
The company also appointed Dirk Hoke, former chief executive of Airbus Defence and Space, to its advisory board Dec. 13. That board is chaired by Jim Bridenstine, former NASA administrator. Company executives have previously said they are gearing up to take the company public as soon as next year, likely through a traditional initial public offering.
Mowry is the second senior Blue Origin executive to leave the company in recent days. A.C. Charania, lunar campaign director and civil space sales director at Blue Origin, announced Dec. 17 he was joining Reliable Robotics, a company developing autonomous cargo aircraft systems, as its vice president of product strategy.
“Reliable Robotics is focused on revolutionizing aviation with autonomy to extend capabilities for a wide variety of global customers,” Charania said in a statement from Reliable Robotics. “I look forward to furthering the strategic vision to serve a broad range of use cases and communities.”
