Skydweller Aero Appoints Space and Telecom Industry Veteran Barry A. Matsumori as New President and Chief Operating Officer

April 16, 2024

Skydweller Aero, Inc., announced the appointment of Barry A. Matsumori, a former senior executive at both SpaceX and Impulse Space, as Skydweller’s President and Chief Operating Officer.

Skydwellers are uncrewed solar-powered aircraft with wingspans greater than a 747 that leave zero carbon footprint. Skydwellers are autonomous and capable of perpetual flight, staying aloft for 90 days or more, at altitudes of up to 45,000 feet.

“Barry is a key addition to Skydweller’s leadership team and will work with me to bring our company to the next phase of growth,” said Skydweller Founder and CEO, Robert Miller. “Barry uniquely has the energy, experience and management background in the Aerospace, Space and Telecommunications industries that Skydweller requires to meet the needs of our government and commercial customers as well as to run a complex global organization with a uniquely capable fleet of large autonomous solar-powered aircraft.”

Skydweller solar-powered aircraft are designed for providing services that have traditionally been thought of as in the domain of both the Aerospace and Space industries, with much greater flexibility and at 10X to 100X lower cost.

In Aerospace, Skydwellers replace conventionally powered aircraft for long-duration missions such as providing continuous aerial coverage above conflict zones, surveilling naval activity in contested waters without risking pilots’ lives, detecting drug smugglers and pirates at sea, and tracking wildlife migration and poaching in Africa.

In Space, Skydwellers replace satellites for a wide range of non-terrestrial telecommunications missions such as providing telecommunications services to remote locations, delivering connectivity in maritime environments, and providing backup cellular service after natural disasters. Skydwellers complement satellites for Earth observation and telecommunications by providing higher resolution, higher power and more targeted coverage since Skydwellers fly much closer to the earth, typically at six to eight miles in altitude, while Satellites orbit at altitudes ranging from 300 to 22,000 miles.

“Skydweller is going to add significant depth and flexibility to and greatly reduce costs for the infrastructure needed for ISR missions, Earth observation and telecommunication services,” said Skydweller president and COO Barry Matsumori. “I am pleased to be part of this organization that will uniquely support such a broad set of global industries.” 

A demonstrated innovator, Matsumori is cited in more than 25 patents focused on telecommunications and space technologies. Matsumori’s background includes executive leadership roles at SpaceX and Virgin Orbit and he was most recently at Impulse Space where he was COO. Matsumori has also served at multiple telecommunications companies with key experience as an early employee of Qualcomm and as CEO of BridgeComm, Inc. Matsumori holds a bachelor’s degree in business from Arizona State University and earned his master’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Arizona.