Launcher, a high-performance rocket and transfer vehicle company, has appointed Sam Francis as its new CFO – where he will oversee all aspects of the company’s financial operations. In April this year, Launcher’s 3D printed E-2 liquid rocket engine successfully demonstrated nominal thrust, pressure, and oxidizer/fuel mixture ratio for the first time in a test fire at NASA’s Stennis Space Center.
Sam Francis has over 25 years of financial leadership experience – previously having 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 the company’s sale to Raytheon Technologies in December 2020. In addition to being appointed as Laucher’s new CFO, Sam 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.
“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,” said Launcher CEO, Max Haot.
Sam Francis has a good reputation for his ability to scale companies and create value. He is both a skilled operational leader as well as a financial transaction expert, and has closed more than $1.2 billion worth 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,” Sam 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.”
