Bill Weber, former president and CEO of KeyW, has assumed the CEO role at Texas-based space transportation developer Firefly Aerospace.
He will lead Firefly’s next phase of expansion and take over for Peter Schumacher, who has held the chief executive role in an interim capacity since July, the company said Thursday.
An aerospace and defense sector veteran, Weber helped transform KeyW’s organizational portfolio until its 2019 sale to Jacobs (NYSE: J). He has served in other leadership roles in the defense industry, notably as founder, CEO and chairman of First Light Acquisition Group, president and chief operating officer of XLA, and president of technology policy consulting firm Kaseman.
Weber’s career as a U.S. Army Officer and Airborne Ranger earned him the Bronze Star for actions during Operation Desert Storm.
“His deep experience and strong relationships across many areas of the A&D landscape will be invaluable as Firefly transitions to full-rate production across its portfolio of products,” Schumacher said.
Firefly announced last month its partnership with Northrop Grumman (NYSE: NOC) to build locally manufactured engines to upgrade the Antares rocket and develop a new medium-lift rocket launch vehicle for national security, civil and commercial use. Firefly is also scheduled to conduct a second launch of its Alpha rocket from the Vandenberg Space Force Base on Sept. 11.
