Our Team
Our unmatched experience and innovation is accelerating development time and slashing cost-to-launch in a way no other company ever has. Lesath’s leadership includes former astronauts, top aerospace minds, and award-winning creative— delivering on a value proposition that strikes beyond original IP: a superhuman intellectual collective who are redesigning the speed to successful spaceflight. Lesath’s edge isn’t hardware: It’s human.
LEADERSHIP
Thomas Pawlak III
Founder & Chief Executive Officer
Thomas is Chief Executive Officer and Founder of LESATH with over 20 years of business and leadership experience spanning healthcare and aerospace sectors. Leading our corporate vision and strategic direction, he brings extensive entrepreneurial expertise from building companies and advising emerging technology ventures.
Thomas serves on the advisory board of Vicillian, a space technology investment group, and as a board member of GroundWorks Buffalo, a non-profit organization focused on transforming urban spaces into thriving, green environments through community partnerships. Mr. Pawlak holds a B.S./MBA from Medaille College and studied business at the University at Buffalo.
Alexander Taleb
Co-Founder & Chief Technology Officer
Alexander is Chief Technology Officer and Co-Founder of LESATH with over a decade of experience in commercial launch vehicle design. As a technical leader, he brings expertise from roles at Firefly Space Systems, Generation Orbit, Syncroness, and Blue Origin’s propulsion team, where he designed engine components, entire stages, and led contract-winning teams.
Alexander specialized in propulsion systems engineering and spacecraft design across multiple commercial space companies. Mr. Taleb has an unmatched passion for rockets and spaceflight, with deep knowledge spanning early suborbital research rockets to today’s reusable heavy lifters. He is dedicated to building an industry-leading launch vehicle and opening space to a new generation of explorers and adventurers, and is a graduate of Georgia Tech in Aerospace Engineering.
Cody LaRochelle
Chief Operating Officer
Cody is an engineering and operations leader with 10+ years of experience delivering multimillion-dollar automation, aerospace, and SaaS projects across highly regulated industries. As Chief Operations Officer at LESATH, he brings extensive project management expertise and technical leadership from complex engineering environments.
Cody specialized in large-scale automation and aerospace project delivery, building his career through progressive leadership roles in operations and engineering management. Mr. LaRochelle holds an MS in Space Systems, a BA in Mechanical Engineering, and is a certified PMP.
STEVEN ANDREWS
Communications & Marketing
Steven is a six-time Telly Award winner and a veteran of the US Presidential campaigns of Elizabeth Warren (‘20) and Hillary Clinton (‘16). Spearheading our creative and communications leadership at LESATH as CMO, he brings more than 15 years’ experience building narrative and demand for frontier companies, politicians, grassroots movements —even a Super Bowl campaign.
Prior to LESATH, he led branded partnerships with acclaimed motorsports teams, produced audio stories for news studios, and managed social media for the Sunrise Movement and The Trevor Project. Mr. Andrews began his career as a classically trained musician, screenwriter and actor, and is a member of SAG-AFTRA and WGA West, and an alumnus of the Cleveland Institute of Music and MIT.
ADVISORY BOARD
Col. Michael Good
NASA Astronaut & Mission Specialist
LT. Gen. Brian T. Kelly
United States Airforce (Ret.)
CDR. Greg Knutson
United States Navy (Ret.)
DR. Steven harvey PH.D.
Non-Profit Leader
Rafael Spears
Space Economy Strategist
DR. NOAH RHYS, Ph.D.
EVP, Propulsion