Company - Orbital Ops

Our mission demands bold thinking, deep engineering, and a team ready to move fast. If you’re driven to shape the next era of space security, we want you with us.

Orbital Operations

Our vision is to set a new standard for space mobility. One where Orbital Operations’ fleet maintains unbroken orbital dominance, empowers sustainable in-space infrastructure, and safeguards humanity’s interests across LEO, GEO, and beyond.  

The current mission is engineering and deploying high-thrust, cryogenic-powered space vehicles delivering rapid-response interception and in-orbit defense capabilities. These vehicles deliver decisive protection for critical assets, ensuring security at the speed of need.

Milestones

Commercial  LETTERS OF INTENT 

$ 0 B

Funding Secured

$ 0 M

sqft facility

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The Founding Team

Ben Schleuniger

CEO | CO-FOUNDER

Ben has over 7+ years of experience in development aerospace, from NASA, SpaceX, and Relativity. An early employee at Relativity Space, Ben owned the initial fluid systems design for Terran 1, built the components team from the ground up, and qualified the flight termination valves. From there he transitioned to turbomachinery, designing the heat exchangers for the Aeon R engine and becoming the Lead Engineer for the Integrated Design and Analysis team on propulsion.

While working at Relativity, Ben also supported the Dark Fission team by designing, analyzing, and creating test plans for their first nuclear propulsion demonstrator.

Ross Doherty

COO | CO-FOUNDER

Ross has been in the aerospace industry for nearly a decade, with experience from Aerojet Rocketdyne, Blue Origin, and Relativity Space. Ross joined Relativity to become the Lead Turbomachinery Manufacturing Engineer where he was instrumental in the build, test, and issue resolution of the Aeon 1 turbopumps and the flight termination valves. Ross was repeatedly flown out to Cape Canaveral by Relativity to support testing and re-works of the engine on the launch pad.  

Ross transitioned to becoming the Lead Turbomachinery Manufacturing Engineer for Aeon R supporting development, qualification, and testing of the new engine.

Nico Montoya

HEAD OF TEST & OPS

Nico has over a decade of experience in propulsion and manufacturing across Blue Origin, Relativity Space, and Stoke Space. At Blue Origin, he was a Propulsion Development Engineer on the BE-4 engine program, leading assembly and testing operations in both Texas and Seattle and serving as a point of contact for ULA on integration. Nico later joined Relativity Space, where he built and led manufacturing teams through the first flight build of Terran 1 and contributed to the development of Aeon 1 and Aeon R engines, rising to Senior Manager of Manufacturing Operations.

Most recently, Nico was a Propulsion Design Engineer at Stoke Space, where he led integrated design for the Stage 2 Hopper demo vehicle. He also served as the Stage 1 Engine Integrated Design Lead, overseeing early engine layouts, ducting, and manufacturing through successful test stand delivery.

Sam Nackman

PRINCIPAL ANALYST

Sam has over 13 years of experience across SpaceX, Relativity Space, and Stratolaunch. At SpaceX, Sam served as the Falcon 9 Second Stage Responsible Engineer, supporting the design and reliability of the upper stage propulsion and fluid systems.

Sam later joined Relativity Space as the Lead Vehicle Fluids Engineer, where he led the vehicle fluids team and guided the Stage 2 system through qualification during the Terran 1 development program.

For the last four years, Sam has served as Principal Propulsion Engineer at Stratolaunch, supporting the development and testing of advanced propulsion systems for hypersonic flight platforms.

Hunter Doan

HEAD OF ROTATING MACHINERY

Hunter has over 8 years of aerospace engineering experience focused on turbomachinery, rotating hardware, and propulsion integration across Anduril, Relativity Space, and Pratt & Whitney. At Anduril, Hunter led the development of class-differentiating propulsion systems for airborne vehicles.

Hunter previously served as the responsible engineer for the Aeon-1 vacuum turbopumps at Relativity Space, driving design and test efforts that improved pump reliability. Prior to that, he supported F119 static hardware and advanced engine programs at Pratt & Whitney.

Paul Guyett

LEAD BUILD ENGINEER

Paul has experience across SpaceX, Relativity Space, First Resonance, and the Naval Surface Warfare Center. At SpaceX, Paul worked as a Starship Engineer supporting development and manufacturing of the vehicle. Prior to that, he worked at First Resonance as a Manufacturing Engineer helping implement manufacturing execution systems and develop custom tools to support aerospace production teams.

Paul previously worked at Relativity Space supporting manufacturing and integration for the Terran 1 flight vehicles. Earlier in his career, he supported additive manufacturing development at the Naval Surface Warfare Center, designing tooling for inspection of additively manufactured components.

Culture

High-Impact Missions

At Orbital Operations, every line of code, weld, and design decision directly contributes to national defense and space security. We’re not building demos—we’re deploying assets that matter. The missions we take on are urgent, strategic, and built to make a difference.

Deep-Tech Challenges

From cryogenic propellant management to in-orbit thermal systems, we work on problems that few teams dare to tackle. If you’re motivated by complexity, frontier tech, and first-of-its-kind systems, you’ll find your edge here.

Collaborative, Elite Team

We’re a tight, experienced group of engineers, operators, and builders who’ve launched rockets, led programs, and solved at-scale aerospace challenges. Titles don’t matter—execution does. We move fast, support each other, and share a singular focus: orbital dominance.

Orbital Operations

Milestones

The Founding Team