Umer Khan Joins Relativity Space as CIO and SVP of Software

March 11, 2024 – Los Angeles, CA – Relativity Space today announced the appointment of Umer Khan as Chief Information Officer and Senior Vice President of Software. As a key member of the Executive Leadership Team, Umer oversees software engineering, including rocket design, simulation, launch, flight, recovery, and mission control. He is also responsible for technology infrastructure, including artificial intelligence, business applications, cybersecurity, and factory automation. 

Umer brings more than 25 years of experience in leading software, technology, and security teams at high-growth R&D companies. Prior to joining Relativity Space, Umer was Chief Information and Security Officer at MaxLinear, a leading semiconductor firm where he scaled business applications, engineering systems, IT infrastructure, and security. Before that, Umer was VP of Information Technology and Security at SpaceX, where he spent more than nine years enabling mission-critical launch, control, and recovery as well as full-scale USA-based manufacturing. Umer also held various technical leadership roles at Broadcom Corporation over 13 years. 

Umer has a Bachelor's in Electrical and Computer Engineering with concentration in software from Illinois Tech, a Master's in Information Security Engineering from SANS Technology Institute, and an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. 

"We're thrilled to have Umer join our team. His exceptional leadership, technical acumen, and industry knowledge will be instrumental in enhancing our software and digital infrastructure as we continue to grow and scale,” said Tim Ellis, Co-Founder and CEO of Relativity Space. 

“I'm genuinely excited to join Relativity Space at this pivotal moment and humbled to be part of such an incredibly talented team. Relativity has already achieved historic firsts in spaceflight and I look forward to developing and establishing Terran R as a leading launch vehicle,” said Umer Khan, CIO and SVP of Software at Relativity Space. 

About Relativity Space

Relativity Space is on a mission to become the next great commercial launch company. Terran R, the company’s medium-to-heavy lift reusable launch vehicle, aims to reliably deliver payloads to orbit on-time and on-budget for customers – meeting the needs of growing demand for space infrastructure. Leveraging the benefits of additive manufacturing to design, test, and iterate at a pace unmatched in the industry, Relativity is changing the way rockets are built and flown. The company’s long-term goal is to create humanity’s industrial base on Mars, paving the way for interplanetary life to fundamentally expand the possibilities of the human experience. 

The company is headquartered in Long Beach, CA with a presence at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, FL; NASA’s Stennis Space Center, MS; Seattle, WA; Vandenberg Space Force Base, CA; and Washington, D.C. For more information, please visit relativityspace.com or connect on LinkedIn, X, Instagram, or YouTube. 

Media Contact
Sarah Lawson  
media@relativityspace.com 
408-393-6060