Atlas Space Operations has appointed U.S. Air Force and industry veteran John Williams as CEO and launched a new subsidiary focused on supporting government missions.
Williams most recently served as vice president of real-time Earth at Viasat (Nasdaq: VSAT), where he was responsible for the development of the company’s ground station-as-a-service business line, the company said Wednesday.
He held leadership roles at Booz Allen Hamilton (NYSE: BAH), ATK Space Systems and Universal Space Network, now known as SSC. His 21-year career in the Air Force included roles in acquisition, operations, budgeting, command and strategic planning.
Brad Bode, co-founder and chief technology officer of Atlas Space Operations, said Williams’ experience and understanding of the space industry will facilitate the delivery of satellite communications platforms and strengthen the company’s position in the industry.
The company also introduced Freedom Space as a wholly owned subsidiary that aims to bring ground-based satcom offerings to the Department of Defense and national security space agencies.
Freedom Space will work with government agencies to build up partnerships meant to advance innovation and address space domain-related challenges.
“By establishing Freedom Space, we are better able to support National Security Space mission requirements and offer additional capacity and resilience to the government’s networks,” said T.I. Weintraub, chief growth officer of Atlas Space Operations and president and CEO of Freedom Space.
