Sierra Space hires Amazon exec for dual role

LOUISVILLE — Louisville aerospace manufacturer Sierra Space Corp. has hired Paul “Rusty” Thomas to serve as the company’s senior vice president and general manager for its Space applications business sector, as well as its chief technology officer.

Thomas was previously the leader of Amazon Inc.’s (Nasdaq: AMZN) Kuiper Government Solutions team, which is developing a constellation of 3,236 satellites to provide global broadband internet connectivity.

“Our innovative space applications business is rapidly expanding to meet the demand of a sizeable addressable market valued in the hundreds of billions of dollars,” Thomas said in a prepared statement. “We are seeing significant demand, especially for Earth observation and connectivity, and Sierra Space is positioned perfectly to scale up and tackle this high-growth segment.”

Sierra Space has several main aerospace projects, including the Dream Chaser space plane, which is expected to be used to resupply the International Space Station starting this year; and the Large Integrated Flexible Environment (LIFE) Habitat, a modular, three-story commercial habitation, business and science platform.

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