Sierra Space hires Northrop program director to lead space transportation unit

LOUISVILLE — Aerospace manufacturer Sierra Space Corp. has hired Steve Berroth to serve as its senior vice president and general manager for the company’s space transportation division, which is on the precipice of completing its first Dream Chaser space plane. 

Berroth worked for Northrop Grumman Corp. (NYSE: NOC), where, according to an SSC news release, he was “program director for the highly complex Fire Scout MQ-8C, an uncrewed autonomous aircraft designed to provide reconnaissance, situational awareness, aerial fire support and precision targeting support for the U.S. Armed Forces.”

Sierra Space has three main aerospace projects: the Dream Chaser space plane, which is expected to be used to resupply the International Space Station starting this year; the Large Integrated Flexible Environment (LIFE) Habitat, a modular, three-story commercial habitation, business and science platform; and the Orbital Reef, a commercially developed, owned, and operated space station to be built in low-Earth orbit that SSC is creating with Kent, Washington-based partner Blue Origin.

“It is a privilege to join Sierra Space at such a pivotal moment in the company’s upward trajectory,” Berroth said in a prepared statement. “I am deeply looking forward to working with this incredibly talented team and helping ready the first Dream Chaser for launch. Reaching this key milestone unlocks so much rich potential as we develop the roadmap for a fleet of spaceplanes, two of which are already on the factory floor, and begin working on crewed variants that will take astronauts to Orbital Reef, the world’s first commercial space station.”

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