ORLANDO, Fla. — Brig. Gen. Kristin Panzenhagen wants commercial companies to solve Space Force problems, but if the U.S. Space Force can help them, that’s OK with her, too.
That’s part of the message she delivered at the Space Mobility Conference at the Orange County Convention Center on Tuesday, bringing together a combination of military, civil and commercial players in the space game.
“We’re really trying to focus in on what the warfighters need and take it one step farther,” said Panzenhagen, who wears four hats for the Space Force, including commander of Space Launch Delta 45 based at Patrick Space Force Base in Brevard County.
Taking over the role last summer from Maj. Gen. Stephen Purdy, she’s also director of the Eastern Range in charge of every launch out of Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and Kennedy Space Center and the director of launch and range operations for Space Systems Command, meaning she has a say in the launches from the Western Range out of Vandenberg Space Force Station as well.
The final, and debatably the biggest hat she wears, though, is as program executive officer for the Assured Access to Space organization within Space Systems Command. That job entails overseeing 22,000 government and contractor personnel and leading national security and other military launch programs with an annual budget of $13.5 billion.
The Space Mobility Conference, now in its second year, is an outreach effort…
