Jeff Babione, a nearly three-decade veteran of Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT), has been named chief operating officer of Sierra Nevada Corp.‘s space subsidiary.
He joins Sierra Space from his prior role as vice president and general manager at Lockheed’s Advanced Development Programs – also known as Skunk Works, the SNC subsidiary said Wednesday.
Babione previously led the Bethesda, Maryland-based contractor’s F-35, F-22 and F-16 fighter aircraft programs.
His appointment comes five months after Sierra Space raised $1.4 billion in a Series A funding round to accelerate work on its Dream Chaser orbital commercial spaceplane.
“As I look forward to the day at Kennedy Space Center where we see Dream Chaser launch and later return to land on the runway, I know that I can help get us to that iconic moment,” said Babione.
