Bill Weber, CEO of Firefly Aerospace, a company that builds launch vehicles, lunar landers and orbiters, announced late Wednesday that he is stepping down after about two years as CEO.
Peter Schumacher, a board member, will serve as interim CEO while the board searches for a new CEO, the company said in a statement posted on its website. A transition committee will assist in the search.
Weber joined the company following its acquisition by private equity giant AE Industrial Partners in February 2022. A longtime aerospace executive, Weber previously served as CEO of KeyW Corporation, a provider of intelligence and analytics to U.S. defense and intelligence clients, and president of government services firm XLA.
The news of his departure comes just two days after Payload published an article saying it was investigating allegations of an inappropriate relationship between Weber and a female employee. At the time, a Firefly spokesperson told Payload, “Our initial investigation does not support any facts that support this speculation.”
A spokesperson declined to specify whether Weber’s departure was related to the 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 take a bigger share of the launch market from competitors like SpaceX and Rocket Lab with its smaller Alpha rocket. The company is also developing a lunar lander called Blue Ghost, which is scheduled to launch for the first time later this year, and a series of orbital transport vehicles designed to increase the mobility of satellites in space.
Bloomberg reported in May that AEI and other backers were considering selling the Texas-based company in a deal that would value it at $1.5 billion.
