The Space Development Agency has appointed Gurpartap “GP” Sandhoo, a U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps veteran, as deputy director.
SDA said Tuesday Sandhoo succeeds Ryan Frigm, who helped establish SDA as an independent agency within the Office of the Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering in 2019.
In this capacity, Sandhoo will help the SDA director manage the agency and execute the development, deployment and operation of the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture, or PWSA.
“We are pleased to have GP seamlessly move into the deputy director position where he will leverage his impeccable space acquisition credentials and experience during this crucial period as we prepare to launch the PWSA’s Tranche 1, the initial operational capability, later this summer,” said Derek Tournear, director of SDA and a Wash100 awardee.
Who Is GP Sandhoo?
Sandhoo previously served as vice president and chief architect at Quantum Space and as director for emerging technologies at Northrop Grumman.
His government career included time as deputy director at the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Agency; head of the Spacecraft Engineering Division at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory; acting director of the Naval Center of Space Technology; National Reconnaissance Office liaison to the Security Assistance Group-Ukraine; and a senior scientist at the Defense Innovation Unit.
He previously served as a flight controller at NASA’s Johnson Space Center and a research and development engineer at Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Laboratory.
The University of Maryland mechanical engineering graduate holds a doctorate in aeronautics, astronautics and propulsion from George Washington University.
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