EADS North America last week said that it has expanded the company’s space and related product activities in the United States, supporting government agencies, private sector customers and academia.
The business will be led by John Schumacher, who will serve as vice president.
“John will take the lead in expanding EADS’ U.S. presence and in leveraging the company’s broad Space product and technology offerings to meet the needs of our U.S. customers,” said Sean O’Keefe, CEO of EADS North America.
The U.S. line of business will draw on ASTRIUM, EADS’ Space division. ASTRIUM is one of the world’s largest Space providers, supporting customers and projects including Ariane, the Automated Transfer Vehicle and the Columbus modules of the International Space Station, Envisat, Helios, the French deterrence force and Skynet 5.
Before joining EADS North America, Schumacher was vice president of Washington operations for Aerojet General Corporation, responsible for leading and expanding Aerojet’s activities with NASA and other U.S. government, civilian and military customers. He was chief of staff at NASA during the agency’s return to human space flight following the loss of the Space Shuttle Columbia in 2003.
Additionally, EADS North America has named Reinhold Lutz as special adviser to support the endeavor’s marketing, business development and product introduction efforts. Lutz served as ASTRIUM’s head of corporate executive strategy and business development, as well as managing director of ASTRIUM GmbH in Ottobrunn, Germany.