Rob Peckham is joining Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems as director of commercial and civil business development after only six months at Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX), the commercial space venture led by PayPal co-founder Elon Musk.
Peckham, a former president and general manager of Sea Launch, left that company in July 2008 and in March was announced as vice president of business development at SpaceX. Before joining Long Beach, Calif.-based Sea Launch, where he worked for nine years, Peckham worked for Hughes Space and Communications Co., now Boeing Satellite Systems of El Segundo, Calif.
Boeing spokeswoman Angie Chen confirmed Peckham’s hiring and said he will replace Mike Caulfield, who is taking on a new role in “new business and business development” at the Boeing Satellite Development Center.
Peckham’s departure is the second quick exit of a former Sea Launch executive from SpaceX, developer of the Falcon series of rockets and the Dragon capsule designed for international space station resupply missions. Jim Maser, Peckham’s predecessor at Sea Launch, left the company in March 2006 to join SpaceX as president and chief operating officer, only to leave the following December to take the reins at rocket engine maker Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne.
Cassie Kloberdanz, a spokeswoman for Hawthorne, Calif.-based SpaceX, deferred to Boeing for comment.
