The Aerospace Corp., a federally funded research and development center based in Los Angeles, has made some changes within its leadership positions.
Catherine Steele has succeeded Manuel De Ponte as senior vice president of the National Systems Group. De Ponte retired. Steele had been vice president of the company’s Strategic Space Operations.
Charles L. “Chuck” Gustafson has succeeded Rami Razouk as senior vice president in the Engineering and Technology Group. Razouk also retired. Gustafson had previously been general manager of the company’s Launch Systems Division.
The Aerospace Corp. named Randy Kendall vice president of Space Launch Operations. He will succeed Ray Johnson who retires July 1. Prior to his promotion, Kendall had been vice president for Civil and Commercial Operations. In that position, he was responsible for handling $100 million in annual revenue from civil and commercial business. Kendall had also been general manager for the Launch Systems Division in which he provided engineering support for the company’s Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicles programs and managed Space Launch Operations’ support to NASA, the Federal Aviation Administration and commercial programs.
Kendall’s position as vice president for Civil and Commercial Operations will be filled by Ed Swallow who is joining the Aerospace Corp. April 4 from Northrop Grumman Information Systems where he was vice president of business development for the Federal & Defense Technologies Division. In that position, he led business development for the division. Before working at Northrop Grumman for 12 years, Swallow was chief executive of Pegasus Strategies Advisors, LLC. He also worked at Steven Myers and Associates and Space Applications Corp. Logoicon Corp.
