The Spaceship Company
Richard Heller is a Structural Analysis Engineer at The Spaceship Company, a position held since August 2013. Previously, Richard worked as a Structures Design Engineer (Contract) at Cessna Aircraft Company for a brief period in early 2013, where contributions were made to the Instrumentation group for the Textron Scorpion advanced design aircraft. Prior experience includes a role as a Payloads & Structures Design Engineer (Contract) at Boeing, where Richard created models and drawings to meet schedule requirements. Richard also served as a Structural Design Engineer at Northrop Grumman Corporation, supporting the F-35 production line through design changes and material review processes. Earlier experience includes a role as an Airframe Design Engineer at Cessna Aircraft Company, focusing on sustaining design for the Citation X and improving composite bond assemblies using industry standards and engineering principles.
The Spaceship Company
The Spaceship Company (TSC) is Virgin Galactic’s aerospace-system manufacturing organization. Headquartered in Mojave Air and Space Port in Mojave, California, it is building and testing a fleet of WhiteKnightTwo carrier aircraft and SpaceShipTwo reusable spaceships that, together, form Virgin Galactic’s human spaceflight system. We are proud to share the Virgin Group heritage and value our position as an integral part of a remarkable story and globally celebrated brand. Like many Virgin companies across the world, its team of over 430 talented and dedicated engineers, technicians and professionals are drawn together by a willingness to disrupt and challenge the status quo and deliver innovative aerospace solutions to our customers’ needs. The Spaceship Company has a straightforward name: as you would expect, we build spaceships. But we also do much more. The Spaceship Company’s extensive capabilities encompass preliminary vehicle design and analysis, manufacturing, ground testing, flight testing and post-delivery support. The Spaceship Company team is uniquely positioned to offer end-to-end aerospace development with extensive experience in design, manufacturing, and testing. We are proud of our relaxed and informal culture that encourages individuality and innovation. Our team is built on motivated, enterprising and enthusiastic contributors. Our company culture and values are set up in such a way that you need to be able to “check your ego at the door”, be a self-starter and possess a sense of humility. We thrive under pressure, are driven by challenges and aren't afraid to set the goals that will take us to new heights.