New Deputy Director Announced for Space Development Agency

July 8, 2025

WASHINGTON, DC – The Space Development Agency (SDA) today announced the selection of Dr. Gurpartap “GP” Sandhoo as the new Deputy Director of SDA, where he supports the director in the daily management of the organization and the execution of the development, fielding, and operation of the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture.

Sandhoo replaces SDA’s first deputy director, Ryan Frigm, who helped stand up the organization in 2019 as an independent agency under Office of the Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, and guided the agency through numerous milestones and acquisition achievements such as transition to the U.S. Space Force, the launch on orbit of the PWSA Tranche 0, and acquisition and program management of Tranches 1, 2 and 3, in addition to numerous demonstration and experimentation payload deployments.          

“I’d like to thank Ryan for his immeasurable contributions and leadership over the last six years as we built the agency from the ground up and accelerated space acquisition strategies to get capabilities into the hands of warfighters at speed,” said SDA Director Derek Tournear. “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.”  

Prior to joining SDA, Sandhoo served as Vice President and Chief Architect at Quantum Space and as Director for Emerging Technologies at Northrop Grumman. His previous government experience includes serving as Deputy Director at the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Agency (known as IARPA), holding the Heinlein Chair in Astronautics at the U.S. Naval Academy, and head of Spacecraft Engineering Division at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory.

A veteran of more than 36 years of military service in the active and reserve components of the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps, Sandhoo last served as the National Reconnaissance Office liaison to the Security Assistance Group-Ukraine and as a senior scientist at the Defense Innovation Unit.

Sandhoo holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Maryland, an M.S. in Space Systems, a D.Sc. in Aeronautics, Astronautics, and Propulsion from George Washington University, an M.S. in Electrical Engineering from the Johns Hopkins University, and a M.A. in National Security and Strategic Studies from the Naval War College. He is a 2016-2017 Fellow of the MIT Seminar XXI

About the Space Development Agency. As part of the U.S. Space Force, SDA is recognized as DOD’s constructive disruptor for space acquisition. SDA will accelerate delivery of needed space-based capabilities to the joint warfighter to support terrestrial missions through development, fielding, and operation of the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture. For more information on SDA, contact [email protected] or visit https://www.sda.mil.  

-END-