WASHINGTON — L3Harris Technologies named Sam Mehta its new chief executive, elevating the head of its space business in an abrupt leadership change.

Christopher Kubasik stepped down as chairman, chief executive and a member of the board effective immediately, the company said Aug. 17. L3Harris said its board acted after an investigation found conduct by Kubasik that was inconsistent with the company’s code of conduct. The company said the matter was unrelated to financial reporting, controls, customer relationships or operational performance.

Mehta’s promotion puts an executive who has overseen the company’s military space portfolio at the helm as L3Harris positions itself for increased Pentagon spending on missile defense and national security space programs.

Mehta joined L3Harris in 2023 to lead its communications business and was named president of Space & Mission Systems at the beginning of this year. His responsibilities later expanded to include Communications & Spectrum Dominance. Together, the two segments account for more than 80% of L3Harris revenue.

Before joining L3Harris, Mehta led the Advanced Structures business at RTX’s Collins Aerospace and spent more than 17 years at Sikorsky Aircraft, where his last role was president of Defense Systems and Services.

He has been overseeing a push to expand production of military satellites and infrared payloads as the Pentagon ramps up work on space-based elements of President Trump’s Golden Dome missile defense initiative.

The leadership shakeup comes during one of the most significant restructurings at L3Harris since the company was created by the 2019 merger of Harris Corp. and L3 Technologies.

In January, L3Harris reorganized from four business segments into three: Space & Mission Systems, Communications & Spectrum Dominance and Missile Solutions. The latter combines missile propulsion and other weapons technologies, including much of the former Aerojet Rocketdyne business that L3Harris acquired for $4.7 billion in 2023.

L3Harris announced plans earlier this year to take Missile Solutions public, backed by a $1 billion Defense Department investment structured to convert into equity following an initial public offering. The company initially targeted the second half of 2026 for the IPO. But Kubasik said last month that L3Harris would delay the IPO until at least mid-2027, citing market conditions that he said didn’t adequately reflect the value of the missile business.

The company said Aug. 17 it remains committed to a previously announced $3 billion buildout to increase solid rocket motor production and strengthen its supply chain.

L3Harris has also been pruning parts of the space portfolio inherited with Aerojet Rocketdyne. In January, the company agreed to sell a 60% stake in its Space Propulsion and Power Systems business to private-equity firm AE Industrial Partners in a transaction valuing the operation at $845 million. L3Harris retained roughly 40% of the business and kept full ownership of the RS-25 rocket engine used by NASA’s Artemis program.

Kubasik had overseen much of that transformation. He became L3Harris’ top executive in June 2021 under a succession arrangement established when L3 Technologies and Harris merged, succeeding William Brown, and became chairman a year later.

His departure was markedly different from that planned transition.

L3Harris said it became aware of unspecified conduct by Kubasik that was inconsistent with the company’s code of conduct and investigated the matter with independent counsel. The board subsequently determined that a separation agreement was in the company’s best interest.

“The Board and Chris have agreed that implementing our succession plan today is the right thing to do,” Lewis Hay, the company’s independent chairman, said in the announcement.

Mehta’s promotion triggered another round of management changes. Lauren Barnes, who had been president of Spectrum Superiority, was named president of Space & Mission Systems, while Christopher Aebli, previously president of Mission Critical Communications, will lead Communications & Spectrum Dominance.