WASHINGTON — Space Tango, a Kentucky-based startup that conducts research and science experiments on the International Space Station, on Sept. 1 announced the appointment of S. Sita Sonty as its new chief executive officer.
Sonty succeeds co-founder Twyman Clements, who will remain with the company as president.
Clements said Sonty will help the company grow its business in “microgravity applications for hardware, software, materials science, biotech and medicine.”
Sonty said Space Tango has “proven flight payload heritage, a dedicated customer base, and cutting-edge commercial use cases, which have the potential to revolutionize medicine and additive manufacturing in space.”
Sonty previously led the space industry practice for the Boston Consulting Group, a management consulting firm; and was head of human spaceflight sales at SpaceX.
Space Tango was founded in 2014 from a partnership between then graduate-student Clements and Kris Kimel, then CEO of the Kentucky Science and Technology Corp. They sought to simplify and increase access to space-based R&D and product development.
The company is a commercial spinoff of Kentucky Space — a nonprofit consortium of universities, and public and private organizations — based in Lexington, Kentucky, with offices in Texas, Florida, California, and Washington, D.C.
Through a NASA Space Act Agreement, Space Tango since 2017 has provided facilities on the International Space Station to support R&D and manufacturing.
