Don Thoma

Don Thoma is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Aireon since founding the company in 2011.

Prior to Aireon, Thoma held various senior executive positions at Iridium Communications following his arrival in 2001, serving most recently as Executive Vice President of Marketing. As Executive Vice President of Marketing, Thoma was responsible for strategic marketing of Iridium’s products and services, corporate communications and leading corporate initiatives related to the company’s next-generation satellite constellation, Iridium NEXT.

Thoma currently serves as a member of the Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation (CANSO) Executive Committee, which is accountable for the overall performance of CANSO and served as Chairman of the Hosted Payload Alliance (HPA), an industry trade group that works to advance the use of hosted payloads on commercial satellites.

Prior to joining Iridium, Thoma served as Vice President of Marketing and Business Development for ObjectVideo, Inc and has held various positions of responsibility at ORBCOMM, ranging from Senior Director of Transportation to Founder and General Manager of the Vantage Tracking Solutions Business Unit and Vice President of Business Development. Prior to ORBCOMM. Thoma’s experience included Director of Integration and Launch Operations for Orbital Sciences Corporation.

Thoma served as a Captain in the U.S. Air Force Space Division and holds a Bachelor of Science in Aeronautical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, a Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Southern California and a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School.