Whitesides will assume the role of “Chief Space Officer” at Galactic, the company said, where it will focus on overseeing the development of technologies later in the Galactic pipeline, including a supersonic passenger jet.
The leadership change is intended to allow Virgin Galactic to “do more” now that its tourism spacecraft is almost ready to fly its first paying customers, incoming CEO Colglazier told Wall Street analysts during a conference call Wednesday. .
“I think it is fair to say that we are now a short distance” from starting commercial operations, Colglazier said. “This company continues on its way.”
In a call announcing the executive change, analysts asked Colglazier about his unexpected transition from the Disney park executive to leading a new, high-risk business that is still in its commercial infancy.
“I have had a long career working in an industry that is all about security and delivering customer experiences in a safe way,” said Colglazier. “Obviously, the aerospace industry is a different technology. So I will dive deep … That is part of my learning process.”
Whitesides added that Colglazier “brings a wealth of experience in creating customer experiences.”
Virgin Galactic recently announced two new partnerships with NASA. One, announced in June, will see the company help NASA train tourists and scientists who choose to pay for the much more dangerous and expensive trip to fly into Earth orbit. (Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo is only capable of suborbital flights, which means it will take one-hour flights in the upper atmosphere, but it’s not fast enough to go into orbit.)
SpaceX and Boeing have developed spacecraft capable of transporting paying clients and NASA astronauts on day-long orbit trips or month-long stays aboard the International Space Station.
But, Whitesides said: “I think there are opportunities to start, generating income through that. [program] – perhaps before a commercial operation, whether they are government-related activities or not. ”
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