[SatNews] The Society of Satellite Professionals International has announced today that it will honor Marine General James Cartwright, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, with its first annual Stellar Award.

The Award, which honors service to the United States Government involving satellites, will be presented at the Stellar Reception at SSPI’s 27th annual Gala Dinner on March 15, the opening night of the SATELLITE Conference & Exhibition in Washington DC. The Awards Committee selected General Cartwright as its honoree based on his transformative leadership of military space, beginning with his 2004 assignment as Acting Commander (and subsequently Commander) of U.S. Strategic Command and continuing after his 2007 appointment as Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in which role he leads the Joint Requirements Oversight Council that approves Department of Defense (DOD) acquisitions.

Throughout that period, General Cartwright has focused consistently on reshaping the communications and information systems of the DOD to better deliver services to users operating forward and on the edge of the battlefront. Among other accomplishments, he established the Joint Functional Component Command for Space (JFCC SPACE) to ensure unity of effort in support of military and national security operations as well as support to civil authorities. Within JFCC SPACE, he created the Joint Space Operations Center, which provides unprecedented cooperation with the commercial and national security space sectors. Recognizing that the pace of military procurement is out-of-sync with a world in which Moore’s Law rules the innovation cycle, this former Marine aviator has worked to break down barriers to communications and collaboration, flatten organizational layers and speed the rate of technology introduction. His vision has had a profound impact on military space as well as on the commercial providers that meet 80 percent of the DOD’s total satellite bandwidth requirements.

General Cartwright came to the attention of the public in connection with satellites when he announced that the U.S. would shoot down a disabled National Reconnaissance Office satellite (USA-193) that was shortly to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere. Code-named Operation Burnt Frost, the project was planned and executed in a matter of months. It safely and successfully eliminated the risks of re-entry while ensuring that the resulting debris was incinerated in the upper atmosphere, protecting access to Earth orbit. “SSPI is proud to honor a man who has done so much to improve readiness using space technologies,” said SSPI Chairman Clayton Mowry, who serves as President of Arianespace Inc. “In his two most recent assignments, he was selected specifically to be a change agent, and the DOD’s planning, procurement and use of satellites has benefited greatly from the changes he has driven through the system.”