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Firefly Aerospace launched its Alpha rocket July 4 on a mission carrying eight NASA-sponsored cubesats. Credit: Firefly Aerospace/Trevor Mahlmann
BUSAN, South Korea — The chief executive of Firefly Aerospace has left the company amid reports the company was investigating an alleged inappropriate relationship.
In a brief statement late July 17, Firefly announced that Bill Weber was no longer the chief executive of the launch vehicle and lunar lander company. The statement did not disclose the reason for his departure and whether Weber resigned or was fired.
The announcement came two days after Payload reported that the company was investigating claims that Weber had an “inappropriate relationship” with a female employee of the company. Firefly said at the time it was aware of the allegations and looking into them, but did not comment further.
Bill Webe of Firefly Aerospace. Credit: Buchanan-Edwards
Weber took over as chief executive in September 2022. He was previously president and chief executive of KeyW Corporation, a cyberspace operations and geospatial intelligence company serving the national security community.
Weber took over as CEO after AE Industrial Partners acquired a majority stake in the company earlier that year. He replaced Tom Markusic, a co-founder of the company who led the company through an earlier bankruptcy and restructuring by Max Polyakov, a Ukrainian entrepreneur.
Firefly said that Peter Schumacher, a member of Firefly’s board, will serve as interim chief executive while the company conducts a search for a permanent replacement. Schumacher served in the same role in 2022 after Markusic’s departure and before Weber was hired.
The leadership change comes two weeks after Firefly successfully launched a set of NASA-sponsored cubesats on its Alpha rocket. The company said then it planned three more launches this year, with the next being a “dedicated commercial mission” for Lockheed Martin.
Firefly is also preparing to launch its first Blue Ghost lunar lander for NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program. During a July 17 briefing, NASA said that launch was expected in the fourth quarter of this year.
Jeff Foust writes about space policy, commercial space, and related topics for SpaceNews.
He earned a Ph.D. in planetary sciences from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a bachelor’s degree with honors in geophysics and planetary science…
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