Rocket Lab, the global leader in launch and space systems, announced the appointment of Merline Saintil to its Board of Directors. Ms. Saintil bring decades of technology sector experience to Rocket Lab as the company prepares to become a publicly traded company on the Nasdaq via merger with Vector Acquisition Corporation (Nasdaq: VACQ), a special purpose acquisition company.
“It is an absolute privilege to welcome Merline Saintil to our Board of Directors,” said Peter Beck, Rocket Lab founder and CEO. “Having served in senior leadership roles at some of the world’s most innovative technology companies, Merline and Jon bring an incredible wealth of knowledge that will undoubtedly help drive our future success as a public company.”
Merline Saintil will serve as Lead Independent Director providing leadership to the Board’s independent directors and will Chair the Compensation Committee.
With more than 20 years of experience as a technology leader and business executive, Ms. Saintil is widely respected for building global award-winning products in iconic Fortune 500 and privately held companies, including Intuit, Yahoo!, PayPal, Adobe, Joyent, and Sun Microsystems. Ms. Saintil currently serves on the boards of publicly traded companies Lightspeed (Nasdaq: LPSD), Alkami Technology (Nasdaq: ALKT), and Banner Corporation (Nasdaq: BANR). Ms. Saintil was named one of the Women of Influence in 2017 by Silicon Valley Business Journal, one of the 22 Most Powerful Women Engineers in the World by Business Insider, and has received a Lifetime Achievement Award from Girls in Tech. Ms. Saintil holds a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from Florida A&M University and earned an M.B.A. from Carnegie Mellon University.
Ms. Saintil join Rocket Lab during a period of strategic expansion for the company across its launch vehicle and space systems offerings. Rocket Lab recently unveiled its medium-lift Neutron rocket—an advanced new generation reusable launch vehicle with an 8-ton payload lift capacity tailored for mega constellations, deep space missions, and human spaceflight. Neutron will be able to lift more than 90% of all satellites forecast to launch through 2029 and introduce highly disruptive lower costs to the high-growth constellation market by leveraging Electron’s heritage, launch sites, and architecture. Ms. Saintil’s appointment also come at a time of continued growth for Rocket Lab’s space systems program, which develops satellite and spacecraft solutions for a range of commercial and government missions, from low-Earth orbit constellations to high-complexity deep space and interplanetary missions.
Rocket Lab is transforming the way we use and access space by delivering end-to-end solutions across the launch and space systems markets. We are motivated by the impact we can have on Earth by making it easier to get to space and use it as a platform for innovation, exploration and infrastructure. Founded in 2006 and headquartered in Long Beach, California, Rocket Lab designs and manufactures the Electron and Neutron launch vehicles, Photon satellite platform and a range of best-in-class spacecraft components. Since its first orbital launch in January 2018, Rocket Lab has delivered more than 100 satellites to orbit for government and commercial customers, enabling remote sensing, communications, Earth-observation, technology demonstrations and more.
