Cedar Park-Based Firefly Adds To Advisory Board

CEDAR PARK, TX — Firefly Aerospace on Thursday announced the addition of two members to its advisory board. New appointments to the Firefly board are Terry Boardman and Gen. James Cartwright.

Terry Boardman brings 35 years of expertise from Alliant Techsystems where he served as Chief Engineer for the Space Shuttle solid rocket motor program and later as Director of Space Launch Propulsion. In this capacity he was responsible for engineering effort on all NASA space launch propulsion programs at ATK, including the Shuttle flight program, Ares Stage 1 development, Ares l-X flight demonstration, five segment booster development, Booster Separation Motor program, and Launch Abort Motor program. Terry holds BS and MS degrees from Caltech and is a recipient of the Rotary National Stellar Award for Space Achievement.

Gen. James Cartwright retired from active duty on September 1, 2011, after 40 years of service in the United States Marine Corps. General Cartwright served as Commander, U.S. Strategic Command, before being nominated and appointed as the 8th Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the nation’s second highest military officer. General Cartwright served his four-year tenure as Vice Chairman across two Presidential administrations and constant military operations against diverse and evolving enemies. He became widely recognized for his technical acumen, vision of future national security concepts, and keen ability to integrate systems, organizations and people in ways that encouraged creativity and sparked innovation in the areas of strategic deterrence, nuclear proliferation, missile defense, cyber security, and adaptive acquisition processes.

In related news, Firefly said Robert Lightfoot has left its Advisory Board for a position as Vice President of Strategy and Business Development at Lockheed Martin.

“We thank Robert for the valuable insights he provided Firefly and wish him the best in his new role at Lockheed," Firefly CEO Dr. Tom Markusic said in a prepared statement. "Robert has been a great friend and adviser for Firefly, and we look forward to maintaining a relationship with him in his new role."

Of the new additions to the board, Markusic said: "We are excited to have Terry and James join our Firefly advisory board. Their experience and acumen will help guide Firefly’s efforts to fulfill our mission of providing the reliable, convenient, and frequent access to space that our customers critically require. The future of the space economy is being created now, and the wide breadth and depth of experience of the full Firefly advisory board will further enable Firefly to create a cis-lunar space company that fully executes on the expansive opportunities before us as a company and as an industry.”

To learn more about Firefly, visit www.fireflyspace.com and @firefly_space.