Chris Kemp, Founder & CEO
Chris leads the overall company strategy and direction. Chris previously served as CTO of NASA and founded OpenStack. At NASA, he partnered with Google and Microsoft and helped create Google Moon and Mars and worked with the White House to develop the cloud computing strategy for the US federal government. Chris advises and serves as a board member at various tech companies.
Adam London, Founder & CTO
Adam leads the technology strategy and long-term product roadmap. He founded Ventions and spent the majority of his career inventing miniature rocket technologies in partnership with NASA and DARPA. Adam has a B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering from MIT where his research culminated in creation of the world’s smallest liquid-cooled chemical rocket engine.
Chris Thompson, Head of Engineering
Chris leads rocket and launch system development. Chris was a co-founder of SpaceX and VP of Structures, where he led development of the Falcon 1, Falcon 9, and Dragon Capsule for the NASA COTS Programs. Prior to Astra, he also held leadership roles at Virgin Orbit, Virgin Galactic, and McDonnell Douglas/Boeing. He proudly served in the Marine Corps as a CH-53E helicopter crew chief. Chris has a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from California State Long Beach and an A&P License from Embry-Riddle.
Martin Attiq, EVP Business Operations
Martin leads business development, partnerships, customer success and supply chain. Martin previously co-founded the Financial Markets Advisory group within BlackRock; helping scale the team to over 200 people. Martin led many of the group’s landmark assignments, including: structuring the Federal Reserve’s $80 billion bailout facility of AIG and the recapitalization of the Greek banking system resulting in €10 billion from the IMF, ECB and EC.Martin holds a B.S.E. in Industrial Engineering from the University of Michigan and an M.S. in Management from the Stanford Graduate School of Business where he was a Sloan Fellow.
Bryson Gentile, VP Manufacturing
Bryson leads rocket manufacturing and production. Bryson led the manufacturing engineering team at SpaceX for the Falcon 9 rocket where he accelerated rocket production, reliability, and reusability. He then joined NIO to prepare for volume production of their first commercially available electric vehicles. Bryson has a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and an M.S. in Engineering and Industrial Management from California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo.
Trier Bryant, Chief People Officer
Trier leads teams that optimize our employees’ impact at Astra which includes HR, Recruiting, L&OD, Workplace Experience, and Safety. She has held leadership roles at Goldman Sachs, Twitter, and proudly served in the United States Air Force as a Captain leading engineering teams. Prior to leaving the military, Trier was by-name-requested by the Pentagon to lead diversity, inclusion, and talent development initiatives for the Air Force Academy, the Air Force, and the DoD. Trier earned a B.S. in Systems Engineering with a minor in Spanish from the Air Force Academy where she played Division I volleyball.
Hemant Chaurasia, Head of Product and Planning
Hemant leads the team that defines Astra’s long-term strategy and keeps us on track to our near-term goals. He previously led projects at McKinsey & Company, advising CEOs of leading aerospace, tech, and manufacturing companies on growth strategy and product development. He holds a Ph.D. from MIT in Aerospace Engineering.
Milton Keeter, Head of Launch, Licensing, and Safety
Milton is responsible for ensuring safe and efficient launch and test operations, for compliance with city, state, and federal regulations. Prior to Astra, he led range safety and launch operations programs across the aerospace industry, including Orbital ATK and the US Air Force. He served for 20 years in the US Air Force, and holds a Bachelors in Professional Aeronautics from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University.
Ryan Carrithers, VP Finance
Ryan is head of our finance operations. Prior to joining Astra, Ryan was divisional CFO of Americas for KUKA AG, responsible for 8 business units that combined for over €1.0 billion of revenue. Ryan also led the restructuring efforts for KUKA in South America where he spent 5 years living in Sao Paulo, Brazil. He has held various leadership positions in FP&A and Controlling at Comau S.p.A. (a Fiat-Chrysler automotive company) and Robert Bosch GmbH. Ryan holds a dual major in Accounting and Economics from Kettering University.
Fred Kennedy, VP Future Missions
Fred leads Future Missions. Prior to Astra, Fred stood up the Department of Defense's Space Development Agency as its inaugural Director, led DARPA's Tactical Technology Office, and served as a Senior Advisor for Space at the White House. Fred served in the Air Force for 25 years before retiring as Colonel. He holds a B.S. and M.S. from MIT in Aerospace Engineering and Ph.D. in Electronic Engineering and Physical Sciences from the University of Surrey.