Jim Maser to Join SpaceX as President and Chief Operating Officer

SpaceX announced that Jim Maser will be joining the company as President and Chief Operating Officer. Mr. Maser has an exceptional track record of success in both the technical and business aspects of the launch vehicle industry. Before joining SpaceX, Mr. Maser served first as Chief Systems Engineer and then as President and General Manager of Sea Launch, arguably the world’s most successful commercial launch company.

“Jim brings a wealth of capability and experience to the SpaceX team. His joining is also a tremendous endorsement of SpaceX, our accomplishments to date and our vision for the future,” said Elon Musk, Chairman and CEO of SpaceX.

“I am very excited about joining Elon’s entrepreneurial team. I’m looking forward to contributing to SpaceX’s successes and working with the team to fundamentally change the nature of the space exploration business,” said Jim Maser.

Mr. Maser started his career with the Boeing Delta and Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle programs in structural design. He went on to serve as Chief Engineer of Delta III and was one of the key architects of the evolution of Delta II to Delta IV. Before joining McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) in the 1980s, he was a research fellow at the NASA/Lewis Research Center.

About SpaceX

SpaceX is developing a family of launch vehicles intended to reduce the cost and increase the reliability of both manned and unmanned space transportation ultimately by a factor of ten. With its Falcon line of launch vehicles, SpaceX is able to offer light, medium and heavy lift capabilities, as well as deliver spacecraft into any inclination and altitude, from low Earth orbit to geosynchronous orbit to planetary missions.

SpaceX is the third company founded by Elon Musk. Previously he co-founded PayPal, the world’s leading electronic payment system, which was sold to eBay for $1.5 billion in 2002. In 1995, Mr. Musk co-founded Zip2, which sold to Compaq Computer Corporation for over $300 million.