Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy

Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy
Seal of the assistant secretary of defense for space policy
Incumbent Robert Brose Acting   since July 10, 2025
United States Department of Defense
Abbreviation	ASD(SP)
Reports to	Under Secretary of Defense for Policy
Appointer	The president with Senate advice and consent
Term length	Appointed
Constituting instrument	10 U.S.C.   § 138
Formation	October 29, 2020
First holder	John F. Plumb
Website	Official website

The assistant secretary of defense for space policy (ASD(SP)) is a position in the United States Department of Defense responsible for the overall supervision of DoD policy for space warfighting. The officeholder reports to the under secretary of defense for policy.

History

It was created by the Department of Defense on October 29, 2020 after it was mandated by the National Defense Authorization Act of 2019. Previously, there was a deputy assistant secretary for space policy position that reports to the assistant secretary of defense for homeland defense and Americas' security affairs. The acting assistant secretary of defense for space policy, Justin T. Johnson, was then appointed to perform the duties of the office. ^{[1] [2] [3]}

List of officeholders

Assistant secretaries of defense for space policy

No.	Assistant Secretary		Term			Ref.
	Portrait	Name	Took office	Left office	Term length
Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy
-		Justin T. Johnson Acting	October 29, 2020	January 20, 2021	83 days	[4] [5]
-		John D. Hill Acting	January 20, 2021	March 7, 2022	1 year, 43 days	[6]
1		John F. Plumb (born 1970/1971)	March 7, 2022	May 20, 2024	2 years, 77 days	[7]
-		Vipin Narang Acting	May 20, 2024	August 12, 2024	84 days	-
-		John D. Hill Acting	August 12, 2024	May 5, 2025	266 days	[6]
-		Austin Dahmer Acting	May 5, 2025	May 22, 2025	17 days	-
-		Robert Soofer Acting	May 22, 2025	July 10, 2025	49 days	-
-		Robert Brose Acting	July 10, 2025	Incumbent	13 days	-

Principal deputy assistant secretaries of defense for space policy

No.	PDASD		Term			Ref.
	Portrait	Name	Took office	Left office	Term length
-		Gregory H. Pejic Acting	October 29, 2020	~December 20, 2020	~52 days	[8]
1		Gregory H. Pejic	~December 20, 2020	January 20, 2021	~31 days	[9] [10]
2		Vipin Narang	March 29, 2022	August 12, 2024	2 years, 136 days	[11]
-		John D. Hill Acting	August 12, 2024	January 20, 2025	161 days	[6]
-		Andrea Yaffe Acting	January 20, 2025	June 12, 2025	143 days	-
-		Rachel McNeal Acting	June 12, 2025	Incumbent	41 days	-

Deputy assistant secretaries of defense for space policy

No.	Deputy Assistant Secretary		Term			Ref.
	Portrait	Name	Took office	Left office	Term length
Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy
1		Gregory L. Schulte	March 2010	~August 2012	~2 years, 153 days	[12]
-		John F. Plumb Acting	~August 2012	~March 2013	~212 days	[7]
2		Douglas L. Loverro	March 2013	January 20, 2017	~3 years, 311 days	[13]
3		Stephen L. Kitay	~June 13, 2017	August 21, 2020	~3 years, 69 days	[14]
-		Justin T. Johnson Acting	August 21, 2020	October 29, 2020	69 days	[4] [15]

References

1. Strout, Nathan (March 10, 2021). "Pentagon establishes new space policy position". Defense News.
2. "Pentagon creates new office to oversee military space policy". SpaceNews. October 30, 2020.
3. "DOD Establishes Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy". U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE.
4. "Justin T. Johnson". www.defense.gov.
5. "Department of Defense Key Officials - September 1947–February 2022" (PDF). Office of the Secretary of Defense.
6. "John D. Hill". www.defense.gov.^{[ dead link ]}
7. "Dr. John F. Plumb". www.defense.gov.
8. "Gregory Pejic > U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE > Biography". November 11, 2020. Archived from the original on November 11, 2020.
9. "Gregory Pejic". www.defense.gov.
10. "Pentagon creates new office to oversee military space policy". October 30, 2020.
11. @NarangVipin (March 29, 2022). "Some professional news: I am taking a public service leave from MIT. Today, I was honored to be sworn in as Princip…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
12. "Biographies". Archived from the original on July 13, 2012.
13. "Douglas L. Loverro > U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE > Biography View". September 5, 2015. Archived from the original on September 5, 2015.
14. "Stephen L. Kitay". www.defense.gov.
15. "Esper Staffer Becomes Top DOD Space Policy Official". August 31, 2020.