Virgin Galactic, the privately-funded space company owned by Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group and Abu Dhabi’s Aabar Investments PJS, is pleased to announce the appointment of Richard DalBello as Vice President of Business Development and Government Affairs.
In this role, Richard will be responsible for managing business development focusing on LauncherOne, the company’s dedicated orbital launch vehicle for small satellites. Richard will be also responsible for managing the company’s interactions with the US government.
“Richard has extensive experience in the commercial space and satellite industry, as well as in the development of government programs and policy,” said Virgin Galactic CEO George Whitesides. “We look forward to his contributions within our senior executive team as we pursue our goal to democratize space.”
In his role as Assistant Director for Space and Aeronautics in the White House’s Office of Science and Technology policy, Richard was a key contributor to the President’s domestic and international space efforts. Prior to joining the White House staff, Richard served as Vice President of Government Affairs for Intelsat General. Previously, he served as the Director of the US Department of Commerce’s Office of Space Commercialization, and the President of the Satellite Broadcasting and Communications Association and the Satellite Industry Association.
“People have always dreamed of the day when low cost, flexible, access to space might be possible. The world class team at Virgin Galactic is poised to make that dream a reality,” said Richard. “Entrepreneurs and commercial innovators have always been responsible for driving innovation and change, and I’m excited to be joining one of the true leaders of the commercial space era.”
For more information about Virgin Galactic, visit www.virgingalactic.com
ABOUT VIRGIN GALACTIC
Virgin Galactic, the world’s first commercial spaceline, is democratizing access to space for the benefit of life on Earth. Founded by Sir Richard Branson and owned by the Virgin Group and Aabar Investments PJS, Virgin Galactic is developing flights to space for private astronauts, research experiments, and satellites. The astronaut experience will include out-of-seat weightlessness and stunning views of Earth from space onboard SpaceShipTwo, the reusable spaceplane designed for Virgin Galactic by aerospace pioneer Scaled Composites. Using the core technologies proven by SpaceShipOne, the only private vehicle in history to carry astronauts in space, SpaceShipTwo has been designed to carry two pilots and as many as six astronauts, or more than 1,000 pounds of experiments on its commercial flights from New Mexico’s Spaceport America. Additionally, LauncherOne—Virgin Galactic’s orbital launch vehicle—will carry satellites as large as 500 pounds into Earth orbit for historically low prices. SpaceShipTwo, LauncherOne, and the WhiteKnightTwo carrier aircraft are manufactured and tested in Mojave, Calif. by Virgin Galactic’s wholly owned sister organisation, The Spaceship Company.
