Tournear leaves Space Development Agency for new role at Auburn University

WASHINGTON — Auburn University hired Derek Tournear, former director of the Space Development Agency (SDA), as its inaugural director of space innovation, the university announced Sept. 8.

Tournear led SDA, a U.S. Space Force organization established in 2019 to develop and deploy next-generation military space capabilities by adopting commercial technologies. The agency was created to break the Pentagon’s traditional reliance on large, expensive satellites by instead deploying networks of smaller, more resilient spacecraft built using commercial components and rapid acquisition methods.

Tournear will work at Auburn’s Washington D.C.-based office, and report to Auburn’s Applied Research Institute in Huntsville. An applied research institute is a non-profit organization affiliated with a university that partners with industry and government agencies.

His appointment comes as Alabama seeks to expand its role in the military space sector. The Trump administration ordered U.S. Space Command headquarters relocated to Huntsville, positioning the state alongside Colorado as a national hub for space operations. Huntsville already hosts the Army’s Space and Missile Defense Command, NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, and a growing ecosystem of defense contractors. Auburn, through its Applied Research Institute, is moving to capitalize on that growth by deepening its ties with the space and defense sector.

“We are thrilled to add someone to our team with the pedigree and background of Derek Tournear,” said Chris Roberts, Auburn University president.

Steve Taylor, Auburn University senior vice president for research and economic development, said Tournear “will play a critical role for Auburn, particularly with our space and defense partners, as the state of Alabama assumes an even more important role in securing our nation.”

Tournear in a statement said “it is an honor and a privilege to join the Auburn family in this exciting new role.”

Under Tournear, SDA started building what it’s known as the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA), a planned network of hundreds of satellites in low Earth orbit that will provide global communications, missile warning and missile tracking for U.S. and allied forces.

The PWSA is a shift in military space strategy, moving away from small numbers of highly capable but vulnerable satellites toward larger constellations of less expensive spacecraft that can maintain operations even if individual satellites are destroyed or jammed by adversaries.

Tenure marked by innovation and controversy

After being named director of SDA in 2019, Tournear earned widespread praise for the agency’s disruptive procurement methods and fast-paced contracting. But his tenure was not without controversy. From January until April 2025 Tournear was placed on administrative leave while the Department of the Air Force investigated alleged procedural irregularities involving SDA contracts. The investigation stemmed from a bid protest filed by satellite communications company Viasat, which raised concerns about the fairness and transparency of the contract awards.

The investigation highlighted tensions between SDA’s rapid acquisition approach and traditional defense procurement oversight mechanisms. 

Leadership transition at critical moment

SDA announced Sept. 8 that Gurpartap Sandhoo will serve as acting director of the agency, and chief program officer Michael Eppolito will move into the role of acting deputy director.

Sandhoo was recently the agency’s deputy director. “Derek’s vision wasn’t just courageous; it was transformative. His unwavering commitment to innovative space acquisition strategies, coupled with the implementation of spiral development, has revolutionized the speed at which we deliver vital capabilities to the warfighter,” Sandhoo said in a statement.

Sandhoo was previously vice president of Quantum Space, director for emerging technologies at Northrop Grumman Corp., deputy director at the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity, held the Heinlein Chair in Astronautics at the U.S. Naval Academy, and led spacecraft engineering at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory.

The change in leadership at SDA comes at a critical juncture as the agency is just days away from the launch of the first satellites intended to provide communications services for the PWSA. The mission, targeted for no earlier than September 10, will carry 21 spacecraft built by York Space Systems — marking the opening deployment of the PWSA.

The successful deployment of these initial satellites will be closely watched as a test of SDA’s acquisition model and the viability of proliferated constellation architectures for military applications.