Lt Gen Saltzman being presented with the very first three-star flag in the U.S. Space Force during his promotion, 14 August 2020.

This is a list of active duty United States Space Force general officers. There are 24 active duty general officers in the U.S. Space Force: two generals, six lieutenant generals, six major generals, and 10 brigadier generals. All of them transferred from the United States Air Force. Space Force general officers, like in other U.S. armed services, are nominated by the president of the United States and confirmed by the Senate.

List of generals

U.S. Space Force general flag

No.	Portrait	Name	Date of rank	Current position	Ref
1		B. Chance Saltzman	2 November 2022	Chief of Space Operations	[1]
2		David D. Thompson	1 October 2020	Vice Chief of Space Operations	[2]

List of lieutenant generals

U.S. Space Force lieutenant general flag

No.	Portrait	Name	Date of rank	Current position	Ref
1		Nina Armagno	7 August 2020	Director of Staff	[3]
2		Stephen Whiting	21 October 2020	Commander, Space Operations Command	[4]
3		John E. Shaw	23 November 2020	Deputy Commander, United States Space Command	[5]
4		Michael Guetlein	13 August 2021	Commander, Space Systems Command	[6]
5		Philip Garrant	2 August 2022	Deputy Chief of Space Operations for Strategy, Plans, Programs, Requirements, and Analysis	[7]
6		DeAnna Burt	1 December 2022	Deputy Chief of Space Operations for Operations, Cyber, and Nuclear	[8]

List of major generals

U.S. Space Force major general flag

No.	Portrait	Name	Date of rank	Current position	Ref
1		Douglas Schiess	7 May 2021	Commander, Combined Force Space Component Command and Vice Commander, Space Operations Command	[9]
2		David N. Miller	6 July 2021	Director of Operations, Training, and Force Development, United States Space Command	[10]
3		Gregory Gagnon	29 September 2022	Deputy Chief of Space Operations for Intelligence	[11]
4		Christopher Povak	29 September 2022	Deputy Director, National Reconnaissance Office and Commander, Space Force Element to the National Reconnaissance Office	[12]
5		Steven P. Whitney	29 September 2022	Military Deputy, Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Space Acquisition and Integration	[13]
6		Stephen G. Purdy	1 December 2022	PEO for Assured Access to Space, Director of Launch and Range Operations, Space Systems Command, Commander, Space Launch Delta 45, and Director, Eastern Range	[14]

List of brigadier generals

U.S. Space Force brigadier general flag

No.	Portrait	Name	Date of rank	Current position	Ref
1		D. Jason Cothern	3 July 2019	Deputy Commander, Space Systems Command	[15]
2		Troy Endicott	1 November 2019[a]	Assistant Deputy Chief of Space Operations for Operations, Cyber, and Nuclear	[16]
3		Dennis Bythewood	17 August 2021	Commander, Joint Task Force–Space Defense	[17]
4		Todd R. Moore	2 September 2021[18]	Deputy Commander, Space Training and Readiness Command	[19]
5		Timothy Sejba	15 December 2021[20]	PEO for Space Domain Awareness and Combat Power PEO for Battle Management Command, Control, and Communications	[21]
6		James E. Smith	3 July 2022	Deputy United States Military Representative to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization	[22]
7		Devin Pepper	2 September 2022	Deputy Commanding General (Operations), Space Operations Command	[23]
8		Anthony Mastalir	1 October 2022	Commander, United States Space Forces Indo-Pacific	[24]
9		Brian Sidari	2 October 2022	Director, Intelligence, United States Space Command	[25]
10		Jacob Middleton Jr.	23 December 2022	Director of National Security Space Policy, National Space Council	[26]

List of pending appointments

Portrait	Name	Current position	New assignment	Status	Ref
For Major General
	Major General Stephen G. Purdy	PEO for Assured Access to Space, Director of Launch and Range Operations, Space Systems Command, Commander, Space Launch Delta 45, and Director, Eastern Range	Military Deputy, Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Space Acquisition and Integration	Reported, 1 June 2023	[27]
For Brigadier General
	Brigadier General Timothy Sejba	PEO for Space Domain Awareness and Combat Power PEO for Battle Management Command, Control, and Communications	Commander, Space Training and Readiness Command	Announced, 29 June 2023	[28]
	Colonel Kristin Panzenhagen	Senior Military Assistant, Under Secretary of the Air Force	PEO for Assured Access to Space, Director of Launch and Range Operations, Space Systems Command, Commander, Space Launch Delta 45, and Director, Eastern Range	Reported, 1 June 2023	[29][30][31][27]
	Colonel Robert Hutt	Chief, Programming Division, Office of the Deputy Chief of Space Operations for Plans, Programs, Requirements, and Analysis	—	Confirmed by the Senate, 26 May 2022	[29][30]

History

Number of general officers

Major General Burt (left) is sworn into the Space Force, May 2021, transferring from the U.S. Air Force.

Before the establishment of the Space Force, the Space Force Planning Task Force considered two different scenarios or models for the number of general officers in the new service: the lean and demanding models. The lean Space Force model called for 41 general officers with three generals, six lieutenant generals, 12 major generals, and 20 brigadier generals. The demanding Space Force model, on the other hand, has 45 general officers with three generals, six lieutenant generals, 13 major generals, and 23 brigadier generals.^[32]

By August 2020, General John W. Raymond noted that there would only be 21 general officers in the Space Force.^[33] In 2022, this was codified by the James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023, specifying the number of statutory billets in each rank: two generals, five lieutenant generals, six major generals, and eight brigadier generals. It also required that a minimum of six Space Force general officers be assigned at joint duty assignments.^[34][35]

Asked by the United States Senate Committee on Armed Services whether the 21 general officer billets in the Space Force are sufficient, Lieutenant General B. Chance Saltzman, in his written statement in 2022, responded that it is not sustainable. He believes that it is not sufficient to sustain the two four-star posts in the service and effectively represent the Space Force in the Joint Staff and the unified combatant commands.^[36] He hopes to increase the number of general officers to 36: two generals, six lieutenant generals, 12 major generals, and 16 brigadier generals.^[37]

Transfers from the Air Force (2020–2021)

Brigadier General Devin R. Pepper, the first prior-enlisted and African American general officer in the Space Force, speaks during his promotion ceremony, 2021.^[38]

The Space Force was established by redesignating the United States Air Force's Air Force Space Command (AFSPC) as the United States Space Force on 20 December 2020. Thus, the very first general officers in the Space Force were general officers in the Air Force's space operations and space acquisitions career fields. Immediately after the establishment of the Space Force, then-AFSPC commander, General John W. Raymond, was appointed as the first chief of space operations. He then became the first member of the new service, and hence the very first general officer in the Space Force.^[39]

By July 2020, four U.S. Air Force major generals were nominated for transfer to the Space Force and promotion to lieutenant generals.^[40] On 14 August 2020, then-Major General B. Chance Saltzman transferred to the Space Force and was promoted to lieutenant general, becoming the service's lieutenant general and the first general officer promoted in the new service.^[41] Three days later, then-Major General Nina Armagno also transferred to the Space Force and was promoted to lieutenant general, becoming the service's first female general officer.^[42]

On 1 October 2020, then-U.S. Air Force lieutenant general David D. Thompson transferred into the Space Force and was promoted to general, becoming the first to hold the office of vice chief of space operations.^[43]

In April 2021, three U.S. Air Force major generals and six brigadier generals were nominated for transfer into the Space Force, all of them career space professionals working either space operations or space acquisitions.^[44][45] On May 7, 2021, Major General DeAnna Burt transferred to the Space Force, becoming the first major general of the service.^[46]

General Raymond (left) administers the oath of office to Brigadier General Gregory Gagnon, the first non-career space operations or space acquisitions officer general officer in the Space Force, during his first transfer ceremony, 2021.

On 19 October 2021, U.S. Air Force Brigadier General Gregory Gagnon transferred into the Space Force after volunteering. A career intelligence and cyber officer, he is the first general officer of the service who is a non-career space professional, or not coming from either space operations or space acquisitions career fields.^[47]

First direct promotions and expansion (2021–present)

The Space Force had transferred 17 general officers from the Air Force. By October 2021, after the transfers from the Air Force, the Space Force had 21 general officers: two generals, six lieutenant generals, three major generals, and 10 brigadier generals. This included the first officers promoted into general officer ranks since the creation of the service. In January 2021, four colonels were nominated for promotion to brigadier general, becoming the first Space Force general officers who were promoted directly as brigadier generals in the service.^[48]

In 2022, the number of major generals in the Space Force doubled from three to seven. Five colonels were nominated for promotion to brigadier general, bringing the total number of general officers to 24.^[30]

Timeline

Historical firsts

• John W. Raymond, first general and first chief of space operations
• B. Chance Saltzman, first lieutenant general and the first general officer promoted into the Space Force
• Nina Armagno, first female general officer
• William Liquori, first Space Force general officer to retire
• John E. Shaw, first general officer with a joint duty assignment
• DeAnna Burt, first major general
• Gregory Gagnon, first general officer from a non-space professional career field
• Dennis Bythewood, first organic Space Force general officer^[b]