Justin Chandler Joins ThinkOrbital in Executive Role
Named VP of Government Relations and Strategic Partnerships
Colonel Justin W. Chandler (USAF, Ret.) will be joining ThinkOrbital on June 17th as the VP of Government Relations and Strategic Partnerships.
Justin brings unparalleled operations and technical expertise to grow our company and help literally build the new space economy."
Lee Rosen, ThinkOrbital
Colonel Chandler brings a wealth of experience from his distinguished career in the United States Air Force and Space Force. In his final assignment, where he served as the Deputy Chief, Legislative Liaison, Office of the Secretary of the Air Force at the Pentagon, Colonel Chandler was instrumental in collaborating with the House of Representatives and Senate to secure full authorization of the Air Force’s annual budget. He was also pivotal in preparing senior Air Force leaders for key engagements and testimony on Capitol Hill.
Colonel Chandler was commissioned into the Air Force in 2003 after graduating from the United States Air Force Academy. His operational experience includes multiple combat deployments in the C-130E, C-130H, and KC-10 aircraft, where he served as a command pilot in major operations like Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom.
Colonel Chandler's innovative contributions to the Air Force include his work on the Pilot Training Next Initiative, which reimagined pilot training using virtual reality and data analytics. As a National Defense Fellow at SpaceX, he served as a Space Operations Engineer contributing to the historic return of U.S. astronauts launched from American soil.
He also recently served as the Director of the Strategic Initiatives Group at Space Force Headquarters, playing a key role in the establishment and expansion of the new service.
"We are thrilled to have a combat-tested, dynamic, people-centric leader like Colonel Chandler join the team at ThinkOrbital. Justin brings unparalleled operations and technical expertise to grow our company and help literally build the new space economy," said Lee Rosen, Co-Founder, President, and CEO of ThinkOrbital.
In a related story, NASA posted on X that ThinkOrbital recently completed Flight-1, launching the first autonomous in-space welding system! Through the Collaborations for Commercial Space Capabilities-2 initiative, ThinkOrbital is working with NASA on the development of Construction Technologies for Space Applications and large infrastructure ThinkPlatform.