[Webster, Texas – for immediate release] Ad Astra Rocket Company’s Board of Directors have elected Mr. Charles “Chuck” Schue to join the company’s Board, effective immediately. The appointment was unanimously approved at the company’s last board meeting held on June 16, 2021, at Ad Astra’s corporate headquarters in Webster, Texas. Mr. Schue is founder/owner or founder/co-owner of several advanced technology companies, including Aethera Technologies Limited, the Canadian manufacturer of the RF Power Processing Units (PPUs) that power the VASIMR® engine. His appointment further strengthens the 15-year relationship of strong collaboration Ad Astra has enjoyed with the Canadian team.
Originally from Jacksonville, Florida, Mr. Schue’s early career was in the US Coast Guard where he served for 26 years. He won many accolades during his journey in the USCG, as he climbed the ladder from enlisted man to his last active post in 1997 as Commanding Officer of one of the Coast Guard’s five Centers of Excellence.
Mr. Schue’s formal education incudes a BS Degree from DeVry University and a MS degree from the US Naval Postgraduate School, both in Electrical Engineering, with honors. He also received a master’s degree in Engineering Management from Western New England University and an Executive MBA from George Mason University (GMU), where he was selected as the outstanding graduate. In April 2013, Chuck received GMU’s School of Management Distinguished Alumni Award, and in 2014 was selected for GMU’s Class of 20 Prominent Patriots.
A successful serial entrepreneur, Mr. Schue is also co-owner or co-inventor in nine different patents. He is a Senior Member of the IEEE and the American Society for Quality; and is the first
Native American Fellow of the Royal Institute of Navigation. He is a past Chairman and Treasurer of the Washington, D.C. Section of the Institute of Navigation; a past Marine Representative for the Institute of Navigation; and a past Bylaws Chairman. He is a founding member of two Radio Technical Commission for Maritime Services and eight Society for Automotive Engineering international standards committees.
“It is a great honor and a privilege for us at Ad Astra to welcome Chuck as a member of our board. He brings an extraordinary wealth of management experience and business wisdom to our team,” said Franklin Chang Díaz, Ad Astra’s Chairman and CEO. “We are looking forward to Chuck’s valuable counsel as we continue to mature Ad Astra’s business and operations,” he added.
“It is an honor to serve on such a distinguished Board, and to be part of the future of space travel,” said Chuck. “The VASIMR® engine provides the means to travel to Mars in months, not years, thereby significantly reducing the crew’s exposure to radiation. With VASIMR® technology, bigger payloads can transit longer distances with better fuel efficiency – and faster!”
ABOUT AD ASTRA
A US Delaware corporation established in 2005, Ad Astra Rocket Company is the developer of the VASIMR® engine, an advanced plasma space propulsion system aimed at the emerging in-space transportation market. Ad Astra also owns and operates supporting R&D subsidiaries in Costa Rica focused on earthbound high technology applications in renewable energy, advanced manufacturing and applied physics. Ad Astra has its main laboratory and corporate headquarters at 141 W. Bay Area Blvd in Webster, Texas, USA, near NASA’s Johnson Space Center. Its Costa Rica subsidiaries are located 10 km west of Liberia, the capital of Guanacaste Province in the country’s pacific northwest.
