Bill Weber is out as chief executive at Firefly Aerospace, following a nearly two-year stint in the role, the maker of launch vehicles, lunar landers, and orbital vehicles announced late Wednesday.
While the board initiates a search for a new CEO, board member Peter Schumacher will serve as interim CEO, the company said in a statement published on its website. A Transition Committee will assist in the search.
Weber joined the company after it was acquired by private equity giant AE Industrial Partners in February 2022. A longtime aerospace executive, Weber previously served as CEO of KeyW Corporation, a intelligence and analytics provider to U.S. defense and intelligence customers, and president of government services company XLA.
The news of his departure comes just two days after Payload published a story that the company was investigating allegations of an inappropriate relationship between Weber and a female employee. At the time, a Firefly spokesperson reportedly told Payload that “our initial findings do not support any facts behind this speculation.”
A spokesperson declined to specify whether Weber’s departure was related to this reported investigation, citing company policy. Weber did not immediately respond to TechCrunch’s request for comment.
Firefly is one of a handful of companies looking to seize a greater share of the launch market from competitors like SpaceX and Rocket Lab with its small Alpha rocket. The company is also developing a lunar lander called Blue Ghost, which is due to launch for the first time later this year, and a suite of orbital transfer vehicles designed to increase in-space mobility for satellites.
In May, Bloomberg reported that AEI and other backers were considering selling the Texas-based firm in a deal that would value the company at $1.5 billion.
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