Former NASA Astronaut Paul Richards Joins the AGILE Space Industries Board of Directors
DURANGO, Colo., April 05, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Agile Space Industries, the aerospace propulsion experts trusted by NASA, the Department of Defense and defense contractors for over a decade, announced today that former astronaut Paul Richards has joined its Board of Directors. Richards brings tremendous experience from his long career as an engineer, NASA Astronaut and NASA Program Manager, as well as his current position as Sr. Program Manager at Amazon working on their Project Kuiper satellite internet project.
“We are thrilled to have Paul joining our dynamic and talented team,” said Andrew Thompson, AGILE’s Chief Operating Officer. “As AGILE continues to expand its footprint in defense, civil and commercial space propulsion, having an experienced aerospace engineering voice on our Board of Directors give us tremendous insight and advantage.”
Richards’ engineering background, program management background and decades of experience across a range of spaceflight missions brings practical insight and seasoned perspective to AGILE’s fast-growing propulsion design, manufacture and test operations.
“AGILE’s industry-leading test capabilities paired with its in-house additive manufacturing are game changing, they are truly revolutionizing the in-space propulsion landscape,” said Paul Richards. “With launch costs plummeting in recent years, the total activity in space will be increasing dramatically for the foreseeable future. The technologies and capabilities that AGILE has pioneered in chemical propulsion are certain to provide advantages for defense, civil and commercial spacecraft operators in the increasingly competitive space domain.”
Richards is currently a senior manager at Amazon’s Project Kuiper, an initiative to launch a constellation of satellites deployed to Low Earth Orbit (LEO) that will provide low-latency, high-speed broadband internet to underserved communities.
“My career spans 37 years in government, private industry and academia, and space is my passion,” continued Richards. “Agile Space Industries is in the top 1% of all the companies I have had the privilege of working with throughout my career. I am excited and proud to be part of their team.”
After working in the Department of the Navy, Ship System Engineering Station, Richards transferred to NASA’s Goddard Spaceflight Center in 1987. There he developed the tools and processes that would be later used to repair the Hubble Space Telescope and build the International Space Station. He holds two patents for his work on the Pistol Grip Power Tool that has been used by astronauts, including himself, during Extra-Vehicular Activities (EVA) on every spacewalk since 1996. He has been awarded the NASA Space Flight Medal, the NASA Exceptional Service Medal, the NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal and the Department of Defense Superior Service Medal.
Based in part on this critical development work, he was selected by NASA in 1996 to be a shuttle mission specialist. Richards flew on STS-102 in 2001 and logged over 307 hours in space, including 6.4 EVA hours.
Richards returned to NASA in 2004 and held the title of Observatory Manager for the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite series (GOES-R). The GOES-R series is the next generation of advanced weather satellites developed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in partnership with NASA. In 2014, he was promoted to Deputy Project Manager for the Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD) Project. He retired from NASA in 2019 to pursue opportunities in the rapidly growing commercial space sector.
