> home / about RPK / RPK team / board of directors

Board of Directors

Executive Team
Technical Team
Board of Directors
Contractor Team

  Dr. George E. Mueller, Chairman and Chief Vehicle Architect
Dr. Mueller has served as a Director of the Company since 1995. He joined RPK in April 1995 as CEO and became Chairman and Chief Vehicle Architect in 2004, continuing a career in space, science, engineering and corporate leadership. From 1963 through 1969, Dr. Mueller led the program that put Americans on the Moon. As head of the Apollo Manned Space Flight Program for NASA during that period, he was responsible for the Gemini, Apollo and Saturn programs. He was the originator of Skylab, the world's first space station, and is acknowledged to be the "Father of the Space Shuttle." Dr. Mueller’s leadership made possible the achievement of the national goal set in 1961: the landing of men on the Moon and their safe return to Earth by the end of the decade. To accomplish this goal, he merged the diverse activities of academia, industry and NASA into a concerted effort, and to direct this effort, developed one of the most sophisticated and successful management systems ever devised. Dr. Mueller is the author of "An Integrated Program of Space Utilization and Exploration," which became the guiding document for NASA for the last several decades.

At the successful completion of the second landing on the Moon by Apollo 12, Dr. Mueller returned to industry as Sr. Vice President of General Dynamics Corporation. As Group Executive of the Defense Division, he managed the transition of the company to the post-Apollo era. Subsequently, Dr. Mueller joined System Development Corporation (SDC), a pioneer in large computer-based systems and a major developer of software systems for the U.S. Air Force. As Chairman and President of SDC, he managed the conversion of the company from a not-for-profit to a competitive profit-seeking corporation.

Dr. Mueller holds a B.S.E.E. degree from the University of Missouri-Rolla; an M.S.E.E. degree from Purdue University; and a Ph.D. degree in Physics from the Ohio State University. He is the recipient of six honorary degrees and many prestigious awards, including three NASA Distinguished Service Medals and the National Medal of Science for his many individual contributions to the design of the Apollo system. He has also received many industry awards, including the American Society for Engineering Management’s Engineering Manager of the Year 1998, the 2002 Rotary National Award for Space Achievement, and in 2003 he was elected one of Aviation Week’s Top 100 Stars of Aerospace to commemorate the 100th anniversary of flight.

 
Dr. George E. Mueller
 
 

Mr. Randolph H. Brinkley,
Chief Executive Officer
Mr. Brinkley joined the Company as Chief Executive Officer in August 2004. Previously, he was part of a core team of individual limited partners and advisors at J. F. Lehman & Company that advised corporate clients on new deal generation and portfolio management.

Mr. Brinkley formerly was President of Boeing Satellite Systems Inc. (BSS), the world's largest manufacturer of commercial communication satellites and before that was Senior Vice President of Programs for Hughes Space and Communications Company. Before joining Hughes Space and Communications Company (acquired by Boeing in October 2000) in 1999, Mr. Brinkley was the NASA Program Manager for the International Space Station (ISS) from 1994 until 1999. While at NASA, Mr. Brinkley was responsible for the integration of Russia’s participation in the ISS Program and the successful on-orbit assembly of the first elements of the ISS. Before his assignment as Program Manager for the ISS, Mr. Brinkley was Mission Director of the Hubble Space Telescope Repair Mission in 1994. From 1990 to 1992, Mr. Brinkley managed research and development activities for advanced aircraft systems and technologies at the McDonnell Douglas Corporation.

Mr. Brinkley served in the U.S. Marine Corps for 25 years before retiring as a Colonel. He saw combat before entering the U.S. Air Force pilot training program and becoming the Navy’s Flight Instructor of the Year and the Marine Corps’ Aviator of the Year. He has flown more than 4,000 hours in 42 types of aircraft, which include the F-18 Hornet and AV-8B Harrier.

Mr. Brinkley received his B.S. degree from the University of North Carolina and an M.S. degree from Boston University. Subsequently, he undertook graduate work in national security and strategic studies as a Chief of Naval Operations Fellow at the Naval War College. He also graduated from the Navy Fighter Weapons School (TOPGUN), Amphibious Warfare School, NATO Defense College, and the Marine Corps Engineers School.

Mr. Brinkley has received numerous national and international awards for his outstanding achievement in aeronautics, including the NASA Distinguished Service Medal and two NASA Outstanding Leadership Medals.

 
Randy Brinkley
 
  Stanley B. McCammon, Director
Since 1993 Stanley B. McCammon has been President of Orca Bay Capital Corporation, a Seattle, Washington asset management company, whose Chairman is John McCaw (co-founder of both McCaw Cable Co. and McCaw Cellular Communications Inc). Orca Bay deploys its capital in both the public and private securities markets, including an investment in Rocketplane Kistler. Mr. McCammon is also President and CEO of Orca Bay Sports & Entertainment, which owns the NHL Vancouver Canucks and General Motors Place. He represents the hockey team at the league level by serving as an Alternate Governor.

Additionally, Mr. McCammon is a co-founder and partner with John McCaw in Orca Bay Partners, a private equity fund investing in buyout, growth, and other private equity opportunities. Since its inception, Orca Bay Partners has developed a strong reputation for its acumen in investing in financial services businesses. Mr. McCammon is a graduate of the University of Nebraska School of Business, and the Law Schools of the University of Nebraska and New York University holding J.D. and LLM degrees. Prior to joining Orca Bay Capital, Mr. McCammon practiced law in Chicago and Seattle, primarily focusing on tax and business transactional matters.

   (Photo Unavailable)
 
  Founders and Directors Emeritus
  Walter Kistler
Mr. Kistler is a cofounder of Rocketplane Kistler. In 1957 he formed Kistler Instruments Corporation, which became a world leader in the development of quartz sensors. Mr. Kistler holds patents on more than 50 inventions in the scientific and industrial instrument field.

In 1970, Mr. Kistler cofounded Kistler-Morse Corporation in Seattle, Washington, to design and manufacture scientific instruments. In 1985, he became the first investor, and eventually a director, of SPACEHAB, Inc., an entrepreneurial company that has since developed the world's first commercial space research laboratories aboard the U.S. Space Shuttle.

In October 1996, Mr. Kistler founded a nonprofit organization, Foundation For the Future, to support research in genetics and other scientific disciplines		  
Walter Kistler
 
  Robert Citron
Mr. Citron is cofounder of Rocketplane Kistler and served as its President from inception in 1993 to Fall 1996. From 1956-1976, Mr. Citron managed a series of space research projects under contracts to NASA for the Smithsonian Institution Astrophysical Observatory.

Mr. Citron founded several successful companies in the fields of global communications, scientific field research, publishing, and commercial space development. SPACEHAB, Inc., a successful public company he founded in 1983, has built, with private funds, four space research laboratories that routinely fly aboard the Space Shuttle, allowing astronauts to undertake microgravity and space systems research as well as provide logistics support for the Russian Mir Space Station. 		 
Robert Citron