Firefly Aerospace, Inc. (Firefly), a developer of orbital launch vehicles for the small to medium satellite market, has announced today that Leslie Kovacs has joined the company as the Vice President of Business Development.
Kovacs possesses more than 30 years of space launch industry experience, most recently at United Launch Alliance (ULA) as Director of Executive Branch affairs where he helped shape federal policy and acquisition approaches for the US$57 billion Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) program. Kovacs will be based in Firefly's Washington D.C. office.
Photo, from L to R: Firefly Director Mark Watt, Firefly CEO Dr. Tom Markusic, Firefly VP of Business Development Les Kovacs and Firefly Co-founder Dr. Max Polyakov.
Additional notable accomplishments in Kovacs' career include acting as a launch controller at Cape Canaveral, developing architectures for Lunar and Martian surface habitation, leading concept of operations efforts for launch vehicles to replace the Space Shuttle and developing the United States Air Force "Spacelift" course, where he instructed classes in orbital mechanics, launch vehicle design and range and flight safety operations.
Firefly CEO Dr. Tom Markusic said that Les adds an extraordinary depth of experience to the company's team. He has hands-on launch experience working as an Air Force Space Operations Officer and as an operations manager for Orbital Science's X-34 and Antares vehicles. Combined with his extensive experience working with the White House, NASA and the Departments of Commerce and Defense, Les brings capabilities and knowledge of Washington executive branch, regulation and procurement affairs to Firefly that are key to supporting our global business development strategy.
Kovacs said we are witnessing the transition of space to commercial enterprise. From populating large satellite constellations to the commercialization of cislunar space, the moon and beyond, Firefly is uniquely situated to provide reliable and economical access to space for this burgeoning industry through its Alpha and Beta launch vehicles.
Dr. Max Polyakov, Firefly Co-founder, said, "We have assembled a world class team at Firefly and we will continue to aggressively hire top tier individuals as we prepare for our first launch in the third quarter of 2019. We welcome Les to the Firefly family with the knowledge that his extensive experience will further accelerate Firefly's business development."
