HAWTHORNE, Calif. (Launcher PR) — High-performance rocket and transfer vehicle company Launcher announced today the appointment of Sam Francis as its Chief Financial Officer. He will oversee all aspects of the company’s financial operations.
Sam has over 25 years of financial leadership experience. He previously served as CFO at Planetary Systems Corporation through its sale to Rocket Lab in November 2021 as well as CFO at Blue Canyon Technologies until their sale to Raytheon Technologies in December 2020. Mr. Francis has also been appointed to the company’s executive leadership team and will report directly to Launcher’s founder and CEO Max Haot.
Launcher is currently developing its high-performance rocket Launcher Light and Orbiter, its rocket-agnostic orbital transfer vehicle and satellite platform. All vehicles are designed and manufactured in-house using advanced additive manufacturing techniques.
CEO Max Haot said, “I’m excited to partner with Sam to continue to grow Launcher’s investor base and build up our financial operations as we ramp up commercial operations with our first Orbiter flight this November.”
Sam is known for his ability to scale companies and create value. He is both a skilled operational leader as well as a financial transaction expert. He has closed more than $1.2 billion of transactions in M&A and private capital deals.
“Launcher’s closed-cycle engine technology will lower the cost to launch satellites to low Earth orbit and our transfer vehicle will lead the industry in orbital transfer and hosted payload capability,” Francis said. “I am excited to bring my domain expertise and finance skills to the team and help scale the company through its next phase of growth.”
