# Christopher Richins

> Christopher Richins is the co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer of RBC Signals, a satellite communications infrastructure provider. A former Sea Launch RF engineer with degrees in electrical engineering, astronautics and business, he led RBC Signals as CEO from its founding in 2015 until January 2024. His career also includes SpaceX, Bain & Company and management roles in space and software businesses.

- **Role:** Co-Founder & Chief Strategy Officer at RBC Signals
- **Organizations:** RBC Signals, Sea Launch, SpaceX, Bain & Company, Arkyd Astronautics (Planetary Resources), Space Angels Network, Expedia, Applause, The Karman Project
- **Education:** BS, Electrical Engineering, Brigham Young University, MS, Astronautics, University of Southern California, MBA; Jefferson Fellow, University of Virginia Darden School of Business
- **Known for:** Co-founded RBC Signals in 2015 and served as CEO until January 2024., Selected as a 2020 Karman Fellow., First recipient of the John L. Colley Jr. Darden Thomas Jefferson Fellowship in 2007.

## Career timeline

- **Before 2009** — Began his professional career as a Sea Launch intern, then worked as an RF communications engineer supporting equatorial launch campaigns.
- **2007** — Named the first recipient of the John L. Colley Jr. Darden Thomas Jefferson Fellowship.
- **2009** — Graduated from Darden; worked with SpaceX’s sales team while his Bain start date was deferred.
- **After 2009; dates unspecified** — Worked at Bain & Company and held management roles at Arkyd Astronautics, Space Angels Network, Expedia and Applause.
- **2015** — Co-founded RBC Signals with Olga Gershenzon and Stacy King.
- **2016** — RBC Signals launched an initial product in February with approximately 15 partners.
- **2018** — RBC Signals announced a partnership with Antrix, the commercial arm of ISRO.
- **2020** — Selected for the inaugural Karman fellowship cohort.
- **2024** — Moved from CEO to Chief Strategy Officer and leadership of the RBC Signals board; Ron Faith became CEO on January 8.

## Achievements

- Co-founded RBC Signals in 2015 and served as CEO until January 2024.
- Selected as a 2020 Karman Fellow.
- First recipient of the John L. Colley Jr. Darden Thomas Jefferson Fellowship in 2007.
- Led RBC Signals during expansion to agreements covering more than 80 antennas at more than 50 locations in over 20 countries, as reported in April 2021.

## Latest updates

- **2025-05** — Richins publicly shared the ESA and RBC Signals UK STORM initiative on LinkedIn with a comment about underutilized spectrum. ESA announced the development contract on May 27, 2025.
- **2024-01** — RBC Signals announced his move to Chief Strategy Officer and leadership of the board as Ron Faith became CEO.

## Links

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopherrichins

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/christopher-richins
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-15