[SatNews] A Major award for a Lieutenant General recognized for her strong support of the commercial industry and...

The Society of Satellite Professionals International announced today that it will honor Lieutenant General Ellen M. Pawlikowski, Commander, Space and Missile Systems Center, Air Force Space Command, with its second annual Stellar Award for Government Service.  The Award, which honors service to the United States Government using satellites and satellite technology, will be presented at the Stellar Reception at SSPI’s 25th annual Gala Dinner on March 13, the opening night of the SATELLITE Conference & Exhibition in Washington DC.

The Society of Satellite Professionals International is a nonprofit member-benefit society that serves satellite professionals throughout their working lives.  With chapters in the Americas, Europe and Asia, SSPI works to attract new talent to the industry, helps satellite professionals advance in their careers, works to increase the professional standing of members and honors extraordinary achievement by satellite professionals and the companies they work for. 

The Awards Committee selected General Pawlikowski for her strong support of the commercial industry and her thoughtful leadership in the areas of hosted payloads and use of international partners.  Since her 2005 appointment as Commander of the Military Satellite Communications Systems Wing at the Space and Missile Systems Center in Los Angeles, she has been involved in introducing new satellite communications technologies and exploring new ways to acquire space systems such as operationally responsive space.  She seized the opportunity to introduce new techniques for configuration control and requirements management, and has focused consistently on getting better results from complex space acquisition programs.

In her current position in command of the Space and Missile Systems Center, General Pawlikowski is responsible for more than 5,000 employees and an annual budget of $10 billion.  As Air Force Program Executive Officer for Space, she manages the research, design, development, acquisition and sustainment of satellites and the associated command and control systems.  Her extensive portfolio includes military satellite communication, missile warning, navigation and timing, space-based weather, space launch and test ranges, certification for launch, space superiority, responsive space and other emerging evolutionary space programs.  

In 2009, she told SSPI’s Online Journal of Space Communications (spacejournal.ohio.edu), “I see huge opportunities for commercial space ventures to grow as military space advances.  This will be a big boon for national security space as well. The industrial base will be strengthened and the market for space-based services will grow as more and more customers demand them.”

“SSPI is proud to honor a leader who is finding innovative new ways to merge the strengths of commercial and governmental space to ensure readiness while managing costs,” said SSPI Chairman Keith Buckley, CEO of ASC Signal Corporation.  “She is also a role model for a new generation of leadership in the US Military.”  

SSPI’s first annual Stellar Award was presented to General James Cartwright, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.