The move will see Dr Hemant Chaurasia return to his home country of Australia after 14 years of working in the US aerospace industry.
Chaurasia will be responsible for managing Fleet Space’s products through their entire life cycle, from initial conceptual development to final deployment.
Educated initially in Australia at Monash University, Chaurasia went on to complete a masters and PhD in aerospace engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), a renowned US institution.
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He will leverage his significant experience in the defence and aerospace sectors, having served in the aerospace and defence practice of McKinsey & Company, and most recently, holding the position of vice president of product management at Astra.
The experience gained at Astra by Chaurasia will be of particular use during his time at Fleet Space. Astra is a launch vehicle company that managed to develop orbital launch capability faster than any other privately funded company in history.
Astra then went on to raise nearly $500 million when it went public in July 2021. Chaurasia played a key role in these achievements and will be able to leverage that experience to make his mark at Fleet Space.
Commenting on his new appointment at Fleet Space, Chaurasia had this to say about the role.
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“As CPO, my most important task is to build a world-class product team that can make a big difference to Fleet’s future growth.
“The vision that motivates me is to help create a space company that will still matter in 100 years, one that really makes a difference to life on Earth and exploration beyond it. With Fleet, I saw an opportunity to do that.
“The ecosystem around Fleet is advancing rapidly, with the Australian Space Agency and other government initiatives. To see all this happening in my home country is a wonderful bonus, and just adds to my excitement about what we’re building at Fleet,” Chaurasia said.
Fleet Space’s CEO and co-founder, Flava Tata Nardini, spoke about bringing Chaurasia onto the team.
“We’re thrilled that after 14 highly successful years in the US, Hemant has chosen to return to Australia and join our senior team in this vital new role.
“A seasoned space industry professional with an outstanding track record, he brings us a fantastic combination of technical skills and commercial experience at a crucial moment in our development,” Nardini said.
Liam McAneny
Liam McAneny is a journalist who has written and edited for his University International Relations journal. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (International Relations) and Bachelor of Laws from the University of Wollongong in 2021. He joined Momentum Media in 2022 and currently writes for SpaceConnect and Australian Aviation. Liam has a keen interest in geopolitics and international relations as well as astronomy.
Send Liam an email at: [email protected]
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