Michael S. Laidley

Michael Laidley has over 25 years of experiences in the aerospace industry, with over 20 years of experience at Orbital ATK. He is currently the Vice President of the OmegA program for the Company’s Launch Vehicles Division. In this capacity he leads the integrated program office for the development of the OmegA rocket. He has held this position for the last two years leading the program teams and is responsible for the technical, cost and schedule performance of this system. Prior to leading the OmegA Program exclusively, Michael also led the integrated program office for the Pegasus, Minotaur and Minotaur C launch vehicles.  Previously he led the development and production team responsible for the second stage motor assembly, avionics systems, composite structure hardware, flight and ground software, and ordnance systems for the Antares medium-class launch vehicle. He was also responsible for managing the launch facility development team for Orbital ATK at Wallops Flight Facility. In this capacity he worked closely with the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport, NASA Wallops Flight Center, and numerous supporting contractors to finalize construction and certify the facility for testing and launch operations. Michael worked in this capacity, on Antares, from the inception of the program in May 2007.

Prior to working on Antares, Michael was a Program Manager on the Orbital/Suborbital Program responsible for Minotaur I and II launch vehicle development, production and flight operations. In this capacity Michael led the production and launch teams for nine highly successful Minotaur I and II missions. These vehicles launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, and Wallops Island, Virginia carrying payloads for the U.S. Air Force.

Michael has supported many Orbital ATK programs as a mechanical design engineer prior to working in program management. His experience is diverse, ranging from the design of dynamic tracking systems for satellite ground stations and composites design for the Pegasus wing, to metal structure design work on the Pegasus aft skirt.