Tim Pickens
Tim Pickens is president and founder of Orion Propulsion Inc. located in Madison, Alabama. Orion is an independently financed, woman-owned small aerospace company that is committed to affordable aerospace solutions for both the government and commercial sectors. The company specializes in rocket propulsion design and fabrication, engine testing services, Ground Support Equipment (GSE), and launch operations support. Before founding Orion Propulsion in 2003, Tim worked more than a decade in the aerospace industry as an engineer and developer on a variety of programs. Most notably, Tim worked for Burt Rutan at Scaled Composites, leading in-house propulsion on SpaceShipOne, the first privately funded sub-orbital manned space plane. Tim led the development of a hybrid rocket vehicle with the Huntsville Alabama L5 Society, the local chapter of the National Space Society. This vehicle became the world’s highest flying amateur rocket, achieving an altitude of 36 miles as documented in the Guinness Book of World Records 2000 Edition. For more information and news on current projects, visit www.orionpropulsion.com.