 |  | | | | Director - Launch Operations (Boeing)
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Rick Navarro
Boeing Director of Launch Operations
Kennedy Space Center, Florida
Rick Navarro, Director - Launch Operations for the Delta Program, oversees Delta launch activities on both coasts. His career spans 18 years in test engineering, operations management and program management.
Rick joined McDonnell Douglas Florida operations in 1986 as a shuttle payload engineer and later became a missile flight test engineer with the company's missile division. He joined the Delta Launch Vehicle team as a propulsion engineer in 1990. As part of that team in 1992 he was co-recipient of the Spirit of Excellence Award, the company’s highest performance honor.
Since 1994 Rick has held positions of increasing responsibility as Chief Launch Conductor, Operations Manager, and Site Director within the Delta launch operations organization. He has conducted a number of Delta countdown firsts, including the first launch of a Delta II Avionics Upgraded Vehicle, the first Delta II launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, the first Delta III vehicle launch, and the first three Delta IV Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicles launches.
Rick joined the Delta IV launch team as chief of launch operations in 1998 and directed the launch operations team as they prepared the new Delta IV launch pad for initial operating capability. In 2003 Rick was named Launch Director for the Delta IV team at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL. He led the launch team through the first two successful USAF EELV missions, delivering two Defense Satellite Communication System (DSCS) payloads on orbit. He then directed the Delta IV launch team's activities for the first Delta IV Heavy Launch Vehicle.
His academic achievements include a master's degree in space technology from Florida Institute of Technology, and a bachelor of aerospace engineering from Georgia Tech.
NASA's John F. Kennedy Space Center
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