tephen Kitay, deputy assistant secretary of defense for space policy. Credit: DoD

WASHINGTON — Stephen Kitay, deputy assistant secretary of defense for space policy, has resigned from his position and will leave the Pentagon on Aug. 21

Kitay, a political appointee, announced his resignation in a social media post Aug. 8.

“It has been the honor of a lifetime to serve our Nation in this administration for over three years alongside the men and women in the Department of Defense,” Kitay wrote.

Kitay said he is leaving to pursue a “very exciting opportunity in the private sector.”

As head of DoD space policy since June 2017, Kitay was responsible for the department’s strategy in space-related issues and activities in international space cooperation.

Kitay was a central player in the establishment of U.S. Space Command and the U.S. Space Force. Before he came to the Pentagon, Kitay served as a professional staff member on the Strategic Forces Subcommittee of the House Armed Service Committee, and was one of the architects of the Space Corps legislation that the House proposed in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018.

Sandra Erwin writes about military space programs, policy, technology and the industry that supports this sector. She has covered the military, the Pentagon, Congress and the defense industry for nearly two decades as editor of NDIA’s National Defense...