Enrico Palermo. Photo: Virgin Galactic

Virgin Galactic Holdings has appointed Enrico Palermo, the current president of The Spaceship Company (TSC) as its first COO, the company announced Wednesday. Palermo will be responsible for helping maintain efficiency and performance across the enterprise as it develops as a public company, and will lead the execution of specific company strategies and initiatives. The appointment is effective immediately.  

Palermo will also maintain his capacity as president of TSC, the wholly-owned aerospace manufacturing and development subsidiary of Virgin Galactic. Palermo  joined Virgin Galactic in 2006 and was TSC’s first employee. Palermo led the establishment of TSC — the first dedicated engineering, manufacturing and flight test enterprise in Virgin Group.

“Enrico is perfectly suited to become our first Chief Operating Officer. His deep knowledge of the organization, built over 13 years with the company, enables him to hit the ground running on enterprise-wide goals,” Virgin Galactic CEO George Whitesides said.