EL SEGUNDO, Calif., November 30, 2023 – ABL Space Systems has appointed Kevin Sagis to the newly created position of Chief Product Officer and Enterprise Chief Engineer. Sagis will direct ABL’s execution strategy and technical program roadmap, as well as manage technical risk through flight. He will also oversee ABL’s Mission Assurance activities and Chief Engineer’s office.
Sagis joins ABL with a proven track record in aerospace fielding four different space launch vehicles through the complete life cycle from initial concept design to successful flight operations. Over a fifteen-year career at Lockheed Martin, he held a variety of positions and ultimately served as Chief Engineer for the Extended Medium Range Ballistic Missile program. Sagis later spent ten years at Virgin Orbit as Senior Vice President of Engineering and Chief Engineer, where he grew the Engineering team from the original five employees to an organization of 250 engineers. While at Virgin Orbit, he fielded an innovative new launch vehicle and led the engineering team through three successful orbital flight campaigns. Most recently, he was Senior Vice President and Chief Engineer at Reliable Robotics, where he developed remotely piloted flight systems for aircraft.
Sagis served on ABL’s Flight 1 External Independent Review Board in March 2023. As an advisor, he helped to strengthen ABL’s Flight 1 investigation and formulate the technical strategy for the upgraded GS0 ground system and RS1 launch vehicle in preparation for Flight 2.
“Kevin’s expertise was invaluable on the Flight 1 External Independent Review Board. His tenacity inspired all those involved, and his thoughtfulness commanded the deep respect of our full team,” said ABL CEO Harry O’Hanley. “Kevin has led complex technical programs and made difficult decisions of consequence. We’re confident that he will drive our program to new heights in achieving reliable, high-cadence, global launch operations.”