Stephen Forbes, deputy program manager for the Blackjack initiative at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), has been appointed to lead the program, SpaceNews reported Tuesday.
Forbes will replace Paul Thomas, who is slated to depart from DARPA to join the private sector. Prior to DARPA, Forbes served as senior research aerospace engineer at the Air Force Research Laboratory’s (AFRL) flight experiments division.
The Blackjack program aims to field and demonstrate the capability of small satellites in low-Earth orbit. Forbes said in a webinar the agency seeks to determine an approach that will allow the Department of Defense (DoD) to leverage LEO space services.