George Whitesides

Chief Executive

Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc. and the Spaceship Co.

THE LATEST: Whitesides leads Virgin Galactic, the spaceflight venture of Richard Branson, and the Spaceship Co., which makes advanced space vehicles. Under his leadership, the Spaceship Co. reached an important flight-test milestone in May as it prepares for commercial service. The company safely completed a test flight from Spaceport America runway in New Mexico. SpaceShipTwo, which is designed to take passengers to suborbital space, was relocated to Virgin Galactic's New Mexico commercial headquarters in February.

BACKGROUND: Prior to Virgin Galactic, Whitesides served as chief of staff for NASA, where he received the agency&s highest award, the Distinguished Service Medal. He also serves as co-chairman of the World Economic Forum's Global Future Council on Space Technologies. Whitesides is a fellow of the U.K. Royal Aeronautical Society and an associate fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. He graduated from Princeton University with a degree from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.

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