Frank Kendall, secretary of the Air Force and a three-time Wash100 winner, aims to complete the integration of the Space Development Agency into a new space acquisition office before the deadline mandated by the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act, Breaking Defense reported Tuesday.
“By statute, this is scheduled to occur on 1 October 2022, but there is no need to wait until then,” Kendall said Tuesday at the Space Foundation’s annual symposium.
He worked with Heidi Shyu, undersecretary for research and engineering at the Defense Department and previous Wash100 awardee, to organize a working group that will facilitate the SDA transition process.
Kendall also noted at the 36th Space Symposium that he is actively looking for potential candidates to fill the position of the assistant secretary for space acquisition and integration, which will be subject to Senate confirmation.
“Hopefully there will be an announcement in the not too distant future,” he said.
Under the 2020 NDAA, the Air Force must have a Senate-confirmed service acquisition executive to oversee its space enterprise that will also house SDA by the start of fiscal year 2023. Shyu’s office currently oversees the activities of SDA.
GovCon Wire, sister site of ExecutiveGov, will host its Space Acquisition Forum on Jan. 19. Visit the GCW Events page to register for this timely forum and view other upcoming GovCon events.