WASHINGTON ― The Space Force today formally announced the appointment of Gurpartap “GP” Sandhoo as head of its new Missile Warning and Tracking Portfolio Acquisition Executive (PAE) office, as previously first reported by Breaking Defense
Sandhoo will stay on in his role leading the Space Development Agency, but will be elevated from his current position as acting director to permanent director, the agency said in a press release today. According to the release, Sandhoo took on the dual-hated roles May 11.
“GP brings a wealth of experience to this position and is already jumping into his new program acquisition executive responsibilities,” Thomas Ainsworth, who is performing the duties of Air Force assistant secretary for space acquisition and integration, said in the release. “This effort reflects a renewed focus on aligning authorities with accountability, and a strategic commitment to accomplish the global missile warning and tracking mission.”
In addition, Michael Eppolito, the SDA’s current acting deputy director and chief program officer, will become the SDA deputy director.
The Space Force announced the creation of the Missile Warning and Tracking PAE office on March 17. It will encompass SDA’s Tracking Layer of satellites in low Earth orbit, and the two flagship efforts by Space Systems Command:
