Sierra House CEO Tom Vice departs as spaceplane nears launch

-Sierra Nevada Corp’s house spinoff, Sierra House, stated on Monday its CEO has retired and billionaire Chairman Fatih Ozmen is filling in as interim CEO, a sudden change in management as the corporate pushes to launch its long-delayed spaceplane this yr.

Sierra House, which was spun off from Sierra Nevada Corp in 2021 and is valued at $5.3 billion, has spent roughly a decade creating Dream Chaser, a spaceplane designed to ferry cargo to and from low-Earth orbit that may compete with SpaceX’s Dragon capsules.

Tom Vice had joined the corporate as CEO in 2021. Since then, Sierra House has created a unit constructing an inflatable house station in partnership with Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin that might be provided to NASA as a industrial substitute for the Worldwide House Station. Sierra House additionally obtained a $740 million Pentagon contract to construct satellite tv for pc platforms final yr.

However Sierra House has struggled to deliver its oldest line of enterprise, Dream Chaser, to bear. The spacecraft final yr was due for launch on United Launch Alliance’s new Vulcan rocket however was faraway from the mission over growth delays.

“After three and half years within the function, Tom Vice has retired as Sierra House CEO as of the top of 2024 – we thank him for his management and want him properly in his retirement,” a Sierra House spokesperson stated.

The corporate’s backers embody AE Industrial Companions and BlackRock. Sierra House’s $5.3 billion valuation got here after a $290 million funding spherical in 2023 co-led by Japanese traders together with MUFG Financial institution and Kanematsu.

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