Management Team

Jason Kim has served as our Chief Executive Officer and as a member of our Board since October 2024. He previously served as Chief Executive Officer of Millennium Space Systems from December 2020 to September 2024 and as Vice President of Strategic Planning from September 2009 to December 2019. Mr. Kim has also held positions with Raytheon and Northrop Grumman. Mr. Kim attended the United States Air Force Academy, where he earned a BS in Electrical Engineering, and served in the United States Air Force from 1999 to 2006. Mr. Kim also earned a MS in Electrical Engineering from the U.S. Air Force Institute of Technology and an MBA from UCLA Anderson School of Management.

Darren Ma has served as our Chief Financial Officer since August 2020. Prior to that, Mr. Ma served as Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President of Spectra7 Microsystems from November 2017 to July 2020 and as Chief Financial Officer of GigPeak, Inc. from October 2014 to September 2017. Mr. Ma has also previously served as a business unit controller at Semtech (NASDAQ: SMTC) and a finance manager at Intel (NASDAQ: INTC). Mr. Ma received a BS in Managerial Economics from UC Davis and an MBA from the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University.

As Chief Operating Officer at Firefly Aerospace, Ramon Sanchez oversees Firefly’s day-to-day operations and continues to elevate the safety, quality, and reliability in the production of Firefly’s launch vehicles, lunar landers, and spacecraft product lines. Ramon brings more than two decades of experience in production operations for commercial, civil, and national security programs after serving in a variety of leadership roles across Boeing. His extensive experience spans commercial, classified, and human spaceflight missions. Programs he stood up and enhanced production rate include heavy launch vehicles, space planes, small to large satellite constellations, advanced integrated space payloads, and precision guided missiles.Ramon is also an Army veteran and holds a business degree from The Citadel Military Graduate College in Charleston, South Carolina.

Shea Ferring has served as our Chief Technology Officer since June 2023. Mr. Ferring has been working at the Company since April 2018 in several roles, including Senior Vice President of Engineering, Senior Vice President of Spacecraft, and Vice President of Mission Assurance. Prior to that, Mr. Ferring was a Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of M2S2-Technologies, an engineering services company, from October 2014 to April 2018. Mr. Ferring has a BS in Aerospace Engineering and a Master of Science in Aerospace and Satellite Design, both from Arizona State University.

Nathan O'Konek serves as our General Counsel at Firefly Aerospace. He has more than 20 years of legal and strategic leadership in the global aerospace and defense sectors, specializing in high-growth space companies, public markets, international capital markets, complex mergers and acquisitions, and corporate governance.

Previously, Nathan served as Chief Operating Officer at Star Catcher Industries, where he helped lead the company's successful Series A to accelerate the company’s orbital power grid initiatives. Prior to that, he was a founding executive and General Counsel for Neo Space Group, the national space champion established by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF), where he rapidly established and scaled the company's legal, regulatory, and governance functions while spearheading transformative acquisitions. He also served as EVP, General Counsel, and Secretary at Redwire Corporation (NYSE: RDW), where he led the company's public market transition and numerous strategic acquisitions. Earlier in his career, he supported NASA and DARPA programs and served on Space Florida's investment team.

Before aerospace, Nathan practiced as a capital markets attorney in London and New York, representing issuers and underwriters in debt and equity offerings, cross-border transactions, and SEC compliance matters. Nathan holds a JD from the University of Minnesota Law School and a BA from Carleton College. He is a recipient of multiple NASA team awards and a longtime member of the International Institute of Space Law.