Sirangelo Resigns from Sierra Nevada Corporation

Mark Sirangelo (Credit: SNC)

Mark Sirangelo has resigned from Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) for what CEO Fatih Ozmen, owner says are personal reasons, Space News reports. He had run SNC’s Space Systems Division for nearly a decade after his former company, SpaceDev, was acquired.

“We are proud and grateful for all we have achieved in partnership with Mark over the last ten years,” Ozmen said. “Mark has an inspiring enthusiasm for space and a strong entrepreneurial spirit, both of which he has cultivated among our exceptionally talented Space Systems team.”

In an internal memo, Sirangelo said his departure was a “friendly transition” from the company and “is being made from a positive personal place.” The memo, obtained by SpaceNews, was first published by SpaceRef.

“I understand this change may be perceived as challenging but I wanted you to know that the state of our business is very good with strong leadership behind it,” Sirangelo said in the memo to employees. “We were a founding entity of the new commercial space industry and are now seen as one of its most successful leaders.”

Sirangelo said that Fatih Ozmen and Eren Ozmen, the president and co-owner of SNC, were “completely and positively committed” to its space systems business, and that he had been working with them on a transition plan for his departure for weeks. Sirangelo said he would work with company leadership on transition activities through July and serve in a “strategic advisory capacity for some time” after leaving the company.