Honored for Insightful Leadership in the Space Community
September 12, 2012 – Reston, Va. – The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is pleased to announce that the 2012 AIAA von Braun Award for Excellence in Space Program Management has been won by Maj. Gen. James B. Armor, U.S. Air Force (retired), AIAA Associate Fellow, and vice president, strategy and business development, ATK Space Systems Division, Beltsville, Md.
Armor is being honored for his “insightful leadership in the space community – as an Air Force officer and GPS Program Manager, as the leader of signal intelligence (SIGINT) systems for the National Reconnaissance Organization (NRO), as the National Security Space Architect, and as a vice president at ATK.”
Armor has a long career of leadership in the space community. His early work included integrating national security satellites on the space shuttle as a flight qualified shuttle payload specialist; leading operational and acquisition planning, and drafting space policy at the Pentagon; and coordinating classified systems’ use during the first Gulf War. After a tour at National War College as a research fellow assessing Information Warfare, he became the program Director for satellite imagery dissemination to combatant commands. Armor then was appointed as the Director of the NAVSTAR Global Positioning System (GPS), the government’s largest constellation, and which serves both commercial and government users. He later became the Director of Signals Intelligence Acquisitions and Operations at the NRO where he directed critical satellite operations during Afghanistan and the second Gulf War, while simultaneously deploying next generation spacecraft systems. Armor’s final military assignment was as Director of the National Security Space Office, where he coordinated all Service and intelligence space activities and resources. After leaving the Air Force, Armor joined ATK Space Systems Division. There he is responsible for the strategic direction and business development of ATK’s small satellites, engineering services, and spacecraft flight mechanisms.
In addition to being an AIAA Associate Fellow, Armor sits on the Board of Advisors of the Secure World Foundation, a not-for-profit advocacy and think tank for sustainable space. Armor has also been a member of several National Research Council studies, including: The NASA Technology Roadmap Review; Rationale and Goals of the U.S. Civil Space Program; and Air Force Scientific, Technical, Engineering, and Math (STEM) Workforce Needs. Additionally, Armor has served as a reader for “Defending Planet Earth: Near-Earth Object Surveys and Hazard Mitigation Strategies.”
The von Braun Award for Excellence in Space Program Management gives national recognition for outstanding contributions in the management of a significant space or space-related program or project. The award honors Dr. Wernher von Braun, who was one of the world’s first and foremost rocket engineers and a leading authority on space travel.
AIAA is the world’s largest technical society dedicated to the global aerospace profession. With more than 35,000 individual members worldwide, and nearly 100 corporate members, AIAA brings together industry, academia, and government to advance engineering and science in aviation, space, and defense. For more information, visit www.aiaa.org.
