Terran Orbital Elevates Cardi to Lead European Operations

The engineer who joined Tyvak International as its third employee now oversees all Italian operations and a deep-space asteroid mission.

By The space-quantum Desk

Terran Orbital, a Lockheed Martin company, has promoted Margherita Cardi to Vice President of European Operations & Head of Strategic Programs, placing her as the senior-most operational leader for Terran Orbital's European organization based in Torino. [1]

Cardi joined Tyvak International in 2016 as the company's third employee, working her way through systems engineering, program management, and business development before assuming her most recent role as VP of Programs and Business Development. [1]

Her tenure includes serving as Milani Program Manager — Milani being the CubeSat developed for ESA's Hera planetary defense mission, designed to study the Didymos binary asteroid system. Hera is scheduled to arrive at Didymos in late 2026, with Milani expected to be released in early 2027. [1]

Cardi has also helped secure major contracts with the European Space Agency, the Italian Space Agency, and commercial customers, and previously worked at Vitrociset S.p.A. in program management and systems engineering roles supporting the Vega launch program, including launch campaigns at Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana. [1]

The promotion tracks a familiar arc in the sector: deep technical operators ascending to institutional leadership just as their programs reach critical delivery windows.

She holds a master's degree in Space Engineering and a second-level master's in Space Systems and Services from Sapienza University of Rome. Peter Krauss, President and CEO, will remain Managing Director and legal corporate representative of Tyvak International. [1]