Overview

• Auburn University named Derek Tournear its inaugural director of space innovation, with a posting in Washington, D.C., reporting to Auburn’s Applied Research Institute in Huntsville.
• The Space Development Agency appointed Gurpartap Sandhoo as acting director and elevated Michael Eppolito to acting deputy director.
• The opening deployment of the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture is targeted for no earlier than Sept. 10, carrying 21 York Space Systems communications satellites.
• SDA’s architecture aims to field hundreds of lower-cost satellites in low Earth orbit to deliver communications, missile warning and missile tracking for U.S. and allied forces.
• Tournear was placed on administrative leave from January to April during a Department of the Air Force probe tied to a Viasat bid protest, with no new public resolution noted.