Rocket Factory Augsburg (RFA) has a new CEO: the supervisory board has appointed Alexander Dahm as chair of the management. He succeeds Prof Dr Indulis Kalnins and takes responsibility for the company’s further development and the path to the maiden flight of the RFA ONE launch vehicle.
Dahm brings more than 30 years of leadership experience in aviation, space and defence. Most recently he was Chief Operating Officer of HENSOLDT Sensors and a member of the Group Executive Committee, where he was responsible for the operational value chain from production and procurement to quality and logistics.
Industrialisation becomes a leadership task
The appointment comes at a time when European space companies must demonstrate not only technological maturity but also scalable industrial processes. For RFA, the transition from development and testing to reliable production and operational execution is therefore directly a leadership question.
Assessment
For the DACH executive market, the appointment is relevant for two reasons. First, the overlap between aerospace, defence and industrial scaling is growing. Second, technology-intensive companies increasingly need executives who not only understand innovation but can simultaneously lead complex supply chains, quality, production and organisation.
The change thus illustrates how requirement profiles at CEO and COO level are shifting: technological credibility alone is not enough. What becomes decisive is the ability to turn technology into a robust industrial system.
Source: OHB SE / EQS, 5 October 2026
More current leadership changes: DACH Executive Moves. On our advisory approach for industry and engineering: Executive Search Industrial & Engineering.