After leading the Space Development Agency (SDA) on an acting basis for the past eight months, Gurpartap Sandhoo was named its permanent director, the agency announced May 19. Sandhoo will also serve as the Space Force portfolio acquisition executive (PAE) for missile warning and tracking.
Both positions were effective May 11.
According to officials, Sandhoo will continue to oversee the agency’s strategic direction and program execution for the acquisition and delivery of Tranche 1 and Tranche 2 of the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture, a constellation of hundreds of satellites in proliferated low Earth orbit. The constellation is designed to provide military tactical communications access and beyond-line-of-sight missile warning and tracking data.
Sandhoo has more than 36 years of military experience in the active and reserve components of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps. Prior to his SDA leadership roles, Sandhoo served as vice president and chief architect at Quantum Space.
Previously, Sandhoo served as the National Reconnaissance Office liaison to the Security Assistance Group-Ukraine and as senior scientist in the space portfolio at the Defense Innovation Unit. Sandhoo has also served as director for emerging technologies at Northrop Grumman, deputy director at the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity within the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and held the Heinlein Chair in Astronautics at the U.S. Naval Academy. He also led the Spacecraft Engineering Division at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory.
Additionally, Michael Eppolito, who currently serves as the acting deputy director and chief program officer, will become the SDA deputy director. Eppolito joined the agency in 2020 and previously served as battle management cell chief and program director for delivery of the Tranche 0 constellation.