Fleet Space has appointed Dr Matteo Genna as its new Chief Technology Officer (CTO).
Matteo has been building space and near-space systems for almost 30 years. After gaining his PhD in Physics from University of California, Berkeley, he joined Palo Alto-based SSL (now part of Maxar), where he led teams designing and building high-power GEO communication satellites, LEO imaging satellites and interplanetary spacecraft and systems.
Prior to joining Fleet, he headed the Remote Sensing business unit at World View Enterprises, building High Altitude Platforms Systems (HAPS) designed to image and measure the Earth from the stratosphere.
Following a C Series funding round, which raised A$50m, Fleet’s next growth phase is focused on the North American market, where ExoSphere is currently deployed on nickel exploration projects in Michigan, Minnesota and Ontario.
Genna will be based in Tucson, AZ, adding to Fleet’s existing presence in North America, centred on its HQ in Houston, TX. The company’s first international office outside Australia, this was established following Fleet’s oversubscribed Series B funding round ($26.4 million) in November 2021.
“I am very excited and proud to be part of the Fleet team," Genna said. "Building space systems that positively impact our lives on Earth is a lifelong passion and it’s clear that in ExoSphere, Fleet has something very special - a genuinely transformative technology that addresses some of humanity’s most profound and urgent challenges."