SpaceX VP Hans Koenigsmann, Elon Musk’s fourth hire at the space company, plans to retirePUBLISHED TUE, FEB 2 202112:50 PM ESTMichael Sheetz@THESHEETZTWEETZKEY POINTSSpaceX vice president of build and flight reliability Hans Koenigsmann is retiring and has begun transitioning his role to former top NASA official William “Bill” Gerstenmaier, according to note to employees that was seen by CNBC.Koenigsmann, a German-born aerospace engineer, joined Elon Musk’s company as its fourth technical employee in 2002.In the note, Koenigsmann said he will become a technical advisor for the company, working part-time to support SpaceX’s work on reliability and anomaly investigations.
Heard that Gerst will be taking the role
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/02/02/spacex-vp-hans-koenigsmann-to-retire-elon-musks-fourth-hire.htmlQuote SpaceX VP Hans Koenigsmann, Elon Musk’s fourth hire at the space company, plans to retirePUBLISHED TUE, FEB 2 202112:50 PM ESTMichael Sheetz@THESHEETZTWEETZKEY POINTSSpaceX vice president of build and flight reliability Hans Koenigsmann is retiring and has begun transitioning his role to former top NASA official William “Bill” Gerstenmaier, according to note to employees that was seen by CNBC.Koenigsmann, a German-born aerospace engineer, joined Elon Musk’s company as its fourth technical employee in 2002.In the note, Koenigsmann said he will become a technical advisor for the company, working part-time to support SpaceX’s work on reliability and anomaly investigations.
@HansKoenigsmann is the absolute best. It was a career honor to work for someone so brilliant, supportive, and committed to the mission & people on his team. I’m sure SpaceX will miss him terribly, but fortunately they’re keeping him close. Happy retirement Hans, you deserve it!
Thank You!
Crew-2 past FRR bfg underway. With Bill Gerstenmaier as the Space X rep! He's now SpX VP Build and Reliability, succeeding Hans Koenigsmann who held that job for so long and just "retired."
Hans Koenigsmann – after nearly two decades at SpaceX – has left the company, which hosted a send off party for him yesterday:https://www.instagram.com/p/CUiYHBhvK7r/
LOS ANGELES, Calif., October 6, 2021 – Mynaric today announced that space industry leader Hans Koenigsmann was nominated to join its supervisory board. Koenigsmann was nominated by the supervisory board to replace resigning supervisory board member Gerd Gruppe, a former Executive board member of the German Aerospace Center (DLR), contingent on court approval. Mynaric wins Koenigsmann for his first advisory role outside of SpaceX where he acted in various high-profile leadership roles during a 20-year tenure.“Hans is well-known as one of the industry’s most respected leaders, both on the technical and business aspects of operations, and we are thrilled that he accepted the nomination. Hans’ expertise will be invaluable as we work to scale our business and demonstrate our products’ true utility across a variety of applications. And on a personal note, I could not be more thrilled to be working with him again after our joint time at SpaceX where we have achieved so much together.”Bulent Altan, CEO of MynaricThe nomination comes while the company marks major milestones in industrializing laser communications for space, aeronautical and mobility applications in an expanding market. Just recently, Mynaric inaugurated the world’s first serial production facility for laser communication products, launched a next generation optical communications terminal for space applications and signed several customer commitments.“I have seen how teams pushing the boundaries of what’s considered doable look like and provided technical assurance throughout my career. Mynaric has already achieved significant milestones and has what it takes to build laser communications at scale at this important moment in time. I am thrilled that I can witness yet another technological breakthrough and support the company on its mission going forward.”Hans KoenigsmannKoenigsmann, a German-born aerospace engineer, joined SpaceX as its fourth technical employee in 2002. During his tenure at SpaceX, he oversaw launch readiness, inspection of the quality of rocket engineering and development, risk analysis and the identification and resolution of launch issues. He was awarded with NASA’s Distinguished Public Service Medal in 2014, an honor reserved as the space agency’s highest recognition for non-government individuals.
Hans was VP of build and flight reliability until earlier this year, before shifting to part time – with former NASA senior official Bill Gerstenmaier having taken the reins as his successor. He rejoins former SpaceX VP Bulent Altan, the CEO of Mynaric.
Hans, speaking from the cockpit of the Sling TSi aircraft he built this year, explained he's joining Mynaric because "it's a combination of working with an old friend on a new thing" and gives him experience on a company board, which "is something I want to explore."
He's spoken to "a couple" of other companies as well, saying he's still interested in spacecraft and electric airplane propulsion."I have to admit, on the rocketry side I've done that a lot now."
After Inspiration4, Hans felt he was in the "perfect spot to basically step back" from SpaceX, after "all the pain and long hours" of Falcon 1 to the company building on the successes of ISS cargo, and now flying both government astronauts and private astronauts.
Hans: "When you work at SpaceX, you hardly lift your head and look around. I feel like this was bittersweet in a sense to stop now," but said he needed time for himself and his family."I've been part time for half a year now and I lost 25 pounds, so you take care of yourself."
Hans: It "would have been brutal for me to stay with Starship." "I feel like Gerst has this under control" and the SpaceX reliability team "is working great.""I can leave now without causing any detrimental downsides for the company."
I asked Hans about his personal highlights from SpaceX, and he said it would make him "super happy" when his reliability team would think carefully about identifying the root cause of an issue and were "actually getting ahead of me in doing this."
Hans also said Inspiration4 was "a little bit of an eye opening event," because the crew were "not much different from me" and it represented the next step in getting "to space for a lot more people.""It's expensive now, but things will change. Things will get cheaper."
Hans said he "definitely would" want to go space himself one day: "No question, if I have a chance to realize that.""In the meantime, I build airplanes and fly them myself."
Mynaric CEO Bulent Altan says Hans will further enable the company's ability to build a "very mass production" approach to manufacturing unique hardware, which is something they both oversaw firsthand while at SpaceX.
The other night at dinner @HansKoenigsmann said he finally got down to Patch #2 but now they no longer issue numbered patches for the launches. Hey Hans, I can sell you one of mine 😆
* Hans Koenigsmann, SpaceX's seventh hire, spoke to Insider about working with Elon Musk.* Koenigsmann said Musk "expects a lot" of his staff and provided a "unique perspective" on physics.* Koenigsmann, who recently retired after 19 years at Space X, said he enjoyed working with Musk.
🥳 Happy to have Dr. @HansKoenigsmann, former Vice President of Mission Assurance at SpaceX, as new member of our Supervisory Board at @OHB_SE!
