Jim Armor

Maj. Gen. Jim Armor, USAF (Ret.) is a Director, Government Relations for Northrop Grumman Corp. in Falls Church, VA. Preceding this position he was the Staff VP for Washington Operations, Orbital ATK where he coordinated, policy, and licensing of space and launch systems with government departments and agencies. Prior to that, he was the VP for Strategy and Business Development at ATK, Space Systems Division, Beltsville, MD, where he was responsible for market development of small, responsive satellites, satellite components and related engineering services. There he helped to establish an entirely new commercial space market in on-orbit satellite servicing, as well as engineering systems supporting NASA and DARPA space robotics. Before joining ATK, he was the Founder and CEO of The Armor Group, LLC, which provided consulting support to government and industry space programs. He currently is appointed by the Secretary of Transportation as a member of the Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee (COMSTAC) advising the FAA Commercial Space Office on space launch policies and regulations. He is also the Chairman of the Commercial Space Committee of the Aerospace Industry Association (AIA), and was elected to the Board of Directors of Women in Aerospace (WIA). He now serves on the Board of Directors of NAVSYS Corp, a small, woman owned navigation R&D Company in Colorado Springs, CO. Gen Armor served 34 years in the Air Force in a variety of space leadership and staff positions including Director of the NAVSTAR GPS Joint Program Office, Director of Acquisition and Operations for Signals Intelligence at the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), and as a military payload specialist for the Space Shuttle. He served as the Director of the National Security Space Office (NSSO) in the Office of the Under Secretary of the Air Force at the Pentagon, where he was responsible for coordinating all defense and intelligence space activities, before retiring in January 2008. He previously served on the Board of Advisors to the Secure World Foundation advocating international sustainable space policies, and has been a member of several National Research Council Studies including the NASA Technology Roadmap Review; Rationale & Goals for US Civil Space Program; and AF Scientific, Technical, Engineering and Math (STEM) Workforce Needs. He is an associate fellow of AIAA, and is the winner of the Satellite Industry Association 2007 Satellite Leadership in Government Award, the National Space Society 2008 Space Pioneer Award for Space Development, and the AIAA 2012 Von Braun Award for Space Program Leadership.