HawkEye 360 promotes COO to president

HawkEye 360’s chief operating officer has been promoted to president, the Herndon-based satellite analytics company announced Tuesday.

Rob Rainhart joined HawkEye 360 as vice president of engineering in 2016, a few months after the company’s 2015 founding, and has served as its chief operating officer since 2019. His new role as president is effective immediately.

“It is an honor to be appointed president of HawkEye 360, where I have borne witness to year-over-year growth and incredible innovations in our technology and service offerings,” Rainhart said in a statement. “I am humbled to serve alongside HawkEye 360’s talented, mission-focused team, who remain dedicated to making the world a safer place through advanced [radio frequency] analytics — whether on land, sea or sky.”

Before joining HawkEye 360, Rainhart worked with RT Logic, first as principal engineer and then as director of technology and innovation, according to his LinkedIn profile. Prior to that, he was a design engineer at Harris before its merger with L3 Technologies to form L3Harris Technologies.

He has a master’s degree in systems engineering from Pennsylvania State University and a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Colorado State University.

“It has been a great privilege to work closely with Rob each day and watch him take on an increasingly expanding set of responsibilities with much success,” HawkEye 360 CEO John Serafini said in a statement. “So much of HawkEye 360’s growth and development over these years is directly due to his leadership, commitment and care for this great company.”

HawkEye 360 operates a constellation of 21 satellites that detect, characterize and geolocate radio frequency signals. The company plans to have 20 clusters with three satellites each, for a total of 60 satellites, in 2025. In January, three of the company’s satellites were launched into orbit during Rocket Lab’s first launch from U.S. soil at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Accomack County.