Leadership Shifts To Florida As Human Spaceflight, Military And Commercial Space Programs Progress

To strengthen collaboration and integration across its portfolio, Boeing [NYSE: BA] is relocating the headquarters of its Space and Launch division to Titusville, on Florida’s revitalized Space Coast.

Space and Launch, a division of Boeing Defense, Space & Security, currently has its headquarters in Arlington, Virginia.

“Looking to the future, this storied Florida space community will be the center of gravity for Boeing’s space programs as we continue to build our company’s leadership beyond gravity,” said Boeing Defense, Space & Security President and Chief Executive Officer Leanne Caret. “The time is right for us to locate our space headquarters where so much of our space history was made over the past six decades and where so much history awaits.”

In announcing the relocation of the headquarters to a region that includes Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and Patrick Air Force Base, Boeing leaders said the timing of the move makes sense for multiple reasons:

• The Boeing-built X-37B uncrewed, reusable space vehicle continues to perform record-setting, long-duration missions for the U.S. Air Force.
• Boeing’s satellite programs anticipate increased tempo in local payload processing and launch activity.
• The company is enhancing its focus on mission integration and launch system operations in collaboration with Air Force partners nearby at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and the 45th Space Wing at Patrick Air Force Base, and strengthening relationships with Air Force Space Command in Colorado and Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
• The CST-100 Starliner commercial spacecraft is preparing for two flight tests later this year ahead of operational missions to the International Space Station beginning in 2020.
• Boeing continues to achieve milestones toward delivery of the first two core stages of the world’s most powerful rocket, NASA’s Space Launch System, for uncrewed and crewed missions to the moon’s orbit leading to the first crewed lunar surface landing in 50 years, and then to Mars.
• The International Space Station is poised to follow NASA’s road map for commercialization of low Earth orbit, even as this national laboratory is positioned for continued scientific and technological research until at least 2030.
• The United Launch Alliance joint venture continues to meet vital launch needs for national security, scientific and telecommunications missions through its Atlas and Delta rockets, while entering the formal qualification phase for the new Vulcan Centaur launch vehicle.
• Boeing is studying and advancing future space capabilities in collaboration with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

“Boeing has been a dominant presence on the Space Coast for six decades, and this move represents a continuation of that legacy and future commitment,” said Jim Chilton, senior vice president of Space and Launch.  “Expanding our Boeing presence on the Space Coast brings tremendous value for our commercial and government space programs through focused leadership, strategic investment, customer proximity and additional contributions to the vitality of the region.”

The headquarters move will have no impact on Boeing’s space operations in other states, including California, Texas, Alabama, Colorado and Louisiana.

“Boeing will continue to be a dynamic space presence in its existing locations, contributing to the vitality of those aerospace hubs, collaborating with our regional partners, and inspiring future generations of space engineers, technicians and innovators,” Chilton said.

(Source: Boeing news release. Images from file)

FMI: www.boeing.com