Derek Tournear, director of the Space Development Agency (SDA), announced this week that he is stepping down after more than six years of leading the organization.
Tournear made the announcement in a LinkedIn post, reflecting on his time at SDA with a personal anecdote. “Recently, I dropped my oldest off at college. It was a bittersweet moment,” he wrote. “Just like launching a child into college, I am now launching SDA into the next chapter.”
Tournear joined SDA as its first permanent director in October 2019, following the departure of founding director Fred Kennedy, who left after four months.
During his tenure, Tournear oversaw the agency’s growth within the Department of Defense (DOD) – which has been newly proposed to be renamed the Department of War – and helped advance its mission to develop and deploy space-based capabilities on accelerated timelines.
Under Tournear’s leadership, SDA’s signature Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA) program – designed to provide global data relay and missile warning through a network of hundreds of small satellites – gained traction after initial skepticism. The agency launched its first experimental batch, Tranche 0, in 2023.
In his post, Tournear acknowledged the challenges of building support for SDA’s approach, particularly the use of proliferated low Earth orbit (pLEO) systems.
“At the time of SDA’s establishment, many thought that pLEO was a terrible idea,” he wrote. “Convincing detractors of the virtues offered by pLEO was not easy, but through several major wins, the tide shifted.”
Tournear’s departure comes just as SDA is preparing to launch the first 21 satellites of its operational Tranche 1 segment on Sept. 10 from Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif.
His departure also comes amid a broader reshuffling of the Pentagon’s space leadership. While he did not specify a reason for stepping down, he later announced that he will join Auburn University as its first director of space innovation. His exit follows several other senior leadership changes across the DOD space enterprise in recent weeks.
Separately, the DOD’s space workforce saw additional changes Friday, as the Pentagon announced a new slate of senior leadership appointments.
Lt. Gen. David Miller, formerly head of Space Operations Command, will become deputy chief of space operations for strategy, plans, programs, and requirements, replacing Lt. Gen. Shawn Bratton. Lt. Gen. Douglas Schiess has been appointed deputy chief of space operations for operations, succeeding retired Lt. Gen. DeAnna Burt.
Additionally, Maj. Gen. Gregory Gagnon has been nominated for a third star and will take command of the newly redesignated U.S. Space Force Combat Forces Command. Maj. Gen. Steven Whitney, also nominated for promotion, will assume the role of J-8 director on the Joint Chiefs of Staff, overseeing force structure and resource planning.