Chris Ellerhorst is the vice president of the Kuiper Program at United Launch Alliance (ULA). In this role, he leads a team responsible for integrating finance, technical and operations activities associated with Amazon's Project Kuiper launches. Ellerhorst previously served as the director, Strategy, Business Development and Sales where he led the capture of more than $10.5B in new business orders. Additionally, he led ULA’s Strategic Advisory Group of senior industry experts, positioning ULA for profitable growth in the space launch market.
Ellerhorst joined ULA from Lockheed Martin Space where he spent 10 years in various positions, culminating in the Strategic Development and Advanced Programs organization supporting the development of the LM long-range strategic plan, leading new business ventures focused on creating new revenue streams, and supporting enterprise Merger and Acquisition portfolio activity. Additionally, he was the competitive intelligence leader for LM’s Military Space and Civil Space lines of business and developed a strong understanding of the global launch market as a core member of the LM Strategic Business Review team on ULA. Ellerhorst began his career at LM as a systems engineer working on the NASA ORION and GPS III programs. He is a graduate of LM’s Leadership Development program.
Ellerhorst holds a Bachelor of Science degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Colorado Boulder and holds both a Masters of Systems Engineering and Masters of Business Administration from the University of Denver.