EXOLAUNCH has expanded their business operations and sales in North America by opening offices in Denver, Colorado, and Washington, DC.
To lead its US operations (Exolaunch, Inc. doing business as Exolaunch USA), capture new market opportunities, and continue business growth in the region, Exolaunch USA has hired aerospace executive Chris Hearsey as its CEO. Having doubled sales globally, compared to last year, in 2022 Exolaunch is expecting to further increase sales and keep its high launch rate by sending +100 smallsats into space for the industry’s leading players.
In addition to further developing the business and establishing the US headquarters office in Denver, Hearsey will lead policy, industry outreach and government affairs in Washington, DC. He will also complement and strengthen the work produced by Exolaunch’s Berlin headquarters in Germany. Through the Denver office, Exolaunch expects to better provide tailored and reliable launch solutions to all of the firm’s customers in North America. The company, which has successfully launched satellites for multiple North American customers that include Loft Orbital, Spire Global and Kepler Communications, among others, provides its own separation systems and is developing a line of orbital transfer vehicles for precise satellite injection into custom orbits and the removal of space debris.
Kier Fortier, Director of Launch at Exolaunch USA (right)
Hearsey has worked in the space industry at various levels in commercial, civil, and non-profit roles with a strong background in building and advising start-up organizations. Prior to joining Exolaunch, Hearsey served as director of DC operations and government affairs for Bigelow Aerospace. He was also the founder and CEO of OSA Consulting, managing a portfolio of start-up space companies in the US and in Europe. Hearsey will be supported by Kier Fortier, director of launch for Exolaunch USA, who has been leading the development of sales and partnerships to increase the visibility of Exolaunch in North America.
“Exolaunch is a fast-growing commercial space company with a distinguished NewSpace heritage, and I am excited to lead its efforts in North America. Exolaunch’s expansion into US markets will make access to space easier, regular, and more affordable for our customers,” said Chris Hearsey. “We have put together an experienced and talented team to lead Exolaunch USA’s business development from our headquarters in Denver, Colorado. This is a major step for Exolaunch, and we are in a great position to bring our one-stop-shop solutions to broader markets.”
Fortier said, “It is an excellent time to be in the launch services industry as commercial and government organizations alike are expanding into more interesting and sophisticated mission architectures. Our new office in the aerospace hub of Colorado will allow us to fully expand into the US and North American markets and focus on providing tailored launch solutions for our customers and their missions.”
Jeanne Medvedeva, VP of launch services at Exolaunch, said, “I welcome Chris to the Exolaunch team. His decade of experience in the commercial space industry will strengthen Exolaunch’s presence in the USA and its position in the North American markets as a reliable and innovative provider of rideshare launch services. With his broad skills and competence, he will help foster great relationships with our customers as well as with new and our existing launch providers.”
Exolaunch GmbH was founded by scientists and engineers from the Department of Space Technology at the Technical University of Berlin in 2010. It started as one of the global pioneers of the NewSpace era. After delivering its first rideshare cluster to orbit in 2013, Exolaunch was recognized and honored by TU Berlin as a ‘Startup of Excellence’. Since then, the company has expanded to become a global leader in providing both launch services and small satellite deployment technologies having launched satellites for over 30 customers to date. In 2021, Exolaunch completed one of the largest and most diverse rideshare missions with SpaceX Transporter-1 and its largest mission of one ton of smallsats onboard Transporter-2. Exolaunch deployment technologies are fully qualified for SpaceX’s Falcon 9 launches, with total flight heritage of 170 satellites deployed into orbit, and 59 small satellites launched via Falcon 9 in 2021. The company has partnerships with the most trusted and reliable launch vehicle providers, being recognized as an authorized integrator for smallsat clusters. Exolaunch also has a strong history of quality and reliability in its products and services, and relentlessly pursues innovation, seeking solutions to some of the most challenging problems of rendering space accessible for the benefit of humanity.