Jim Simpson, a board member at Virgin Orbit since May 2019, has been named chief strategy officer of the small satellite launch services provider.
Virgin Orbit said Monday that Simpson brings space industry experience as the company aims to address customer requirements in the government and commercial launch sectors.
He previously served as CEO of Airspace Internet Exchange’s Saturn Satellite Networks subsidiary, where he spearheaded geostationary Earth orbit missions, and held the same position at Asia Broadcast Satellite.
Prior to ABS, he worked for Aerojet Rocketdyne as senior vice president for strategy and business development and spent 35 years at Boeing.
His appointment comes after Virgin Orbit unveiled plans to conduct the LauncherOne vehicle’s second mission to launch NASA cube satellites later this month.