Sierra Space hires first CEO

LOUISVILLE —  Sierra Space Corp., a recently spun-off subsidiary of Sierra Nevada Corp., has hired former Aerion Corp. CEO Tom Vice to lead the company in that same role.

Vice has also held executive positions with Northrop Grumman Corp. 

Sierra Space is operating out of Louisville, which has long been home to the company’s space manufacturing and operations center. Since the spinoff in April, the company has been mum about whether it plans to maintain its headquarters in Boulder County. 

The company is developing the Dream Chaser, a spaceplane expected to be used to resupply the International Space Station starting next year. 

Additionally, Sierra Space is developing LIFE Habitats, an inflatable structure that can house as many as four astronauts on long-duration space missions.

“Sierra Space embodies SNC’s deep technology focus and commercial agility. Tom Vice’s experience as a strategic industry executive and an innovative entrepreneur will be critical to our leadership in advancing the new space economy and could not come at a better time as we lead the space industry transformation underway,” Sierra Space chairman and Sierra Nevada CEO Faith Ozmen said in a prepared statement. “He adds to our existing team — with backgrounds in commercial aerospace, national security, as astronauts in space, as engineers prioritizing mission-critical safety, in corporate finance — who recognize the enormous implications and opportunity of space for Sierra Space to our economy and our security. This is what makes the new space economy so exciting and so important to all of us and to future generations.”

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