Space Force’s Chance Saltzman Wins 4th Wash100 Award for Advancing Paradigm-Shifting Space Technologies
Executive Mosaic is proud to honor Gen. Chance Saltzman, Space Force chief of space operations, as a four-time Wash100 Award winner for his work advancing paradigm-shifting space technologies, pioneering innovative government collaborations and positioning the U.S. for national security success in the critical realm of space.
Saltzman has been the Space Force’s chief of space operations since November 2022. He is responsible for training, organizing and equipping all assigned and organic U.S. space forces serving domestically and overseas. He has operational experience with space and missile systems as a Minuteman III ICBM launch officer and as a satellite operator with the National Reconnaissance Office.
The 2026 Wash100 Award popular vote is open! Vote for Gen. Chance Saltzman and other top Pentagon officials today at Wash100.com.
Why Is Chance Saltzman Winning a 2026 Wash100 Award?
Saltzman has played a key role in standing up the Space Force as the U.S.’ sixth armed service and guiding the force in streamlining procurement and getting advanced capabilities into guardians’ hands faster. He’s also been a major factor in guiding the Golden Dome homeland missile defense effort as the Space Force is the armed service with the most to contribute to the system’s complex network of sensors, ground systems and interception capabilities.
Saltzman provided leadership in helping the USSF develop into a warfighting organization with the issuance of Vector 2025. This lays out the core priorities, concepts and service-level functions that serve as the foundation of the service’s approach to space superiority.
Vector 2025 also describes the USSF’s theory of success, called Competitive Endurance. This is based on denying enemies a first-mover advantage, avoiding operational surprise and performing responsible counterspace operations that do not create debris hazards.
“Gen. Saltzman has positioned the Space Force for success in this new era of space being a warfighting realm,” said Jim Garrettson, Executive Mosaic CEO and founder of the Wash100 Award. “His Space Warfighting: A Framework for Planners articulated his vision for the Space Force achieving and maintaining space superiority, while ensuring the domain’s safety and sustainability for years to come.
“Gen. Saltzman demonstrated bold leadership to congressional lawmakers by advocating for new thinking to allow the Space Force to respond to threats on U.S. assets in orbit. He also demonstrated his commitment to getting advanced technologies to guardians faster by promoting speed over perfection.
“We’re proud to award Gen. Saltzman his fourth-consecutive Wash100 Award, and look forward to his work keeping the U.S. as the global leader in space for years to come,” Garrettson continued.
Who Is Chance Saltzman?
Saltzman has had one of the most distinguished careers among space officers in the Department of War, including service as deputy chief of space operations for operations, cyber and nuclear, and specialist assistant to the vice chief of the Air Force.
He also served a dual-hatted role as deputy commander of Air Forces Central Command and deputy combined force air component commander U.S. Central Command. Saltzman became a four-star general in November 2022.
He was commissioned into the Air Force after graduating from Boston University in 1991.
What Are Chance Saltzman’s Recent Career Achievements?
Streamlining Acquisition
Saltzman has championed innovative acquisition reform practices to help the U.S. maintain space superiority. He encouraged USSF acquisition professionals to resist waiting for perfection in space systems.
“Effective systems don’t require perfection to be combat credible,” Saltzman said. “We need to consider rapid entry into operations, manage the capability with a smart risk posture and then focus on rapid, and continuous, improvement of the capability in operations.”
Investing in R&D
Saltzman has displayed a dedication to research and development investment to keep the Space Force at the forefront of technological innovation. The USSF in March of last year concluded its seventh X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle unmanned space plane mission. The X-37B performs secretive experiments and tests on technologies such as space domain awareness that serve as the potential backbone of USSF operations in an increasingly contested and congested space environment.
Pursuing Innovative Collaborations
He has been a leader in creating innovative partnerships to benefit warfighters. He entered the Space Force into an ingenious collaboration with the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency focused on NGA’s Tactical Surveillance, Reconnaissance and Tracking, or TacSRT, effort. This teaming arrangement outlines each agency’s unique roles and responsibilities in procuring imagery-related remote sensing data from commercial satellite operators and disseminating those products.
Positioning Space as a Warfighting Realm
Saltzman has been a visionary in positioning space as a regular warfighting domain. In his Space Warfighting: A Framework for Planners released in April of last year, he articulated his vision for the Space Force gaining, and maintaining, space superiority, while contributing to the domain’s stability and safety for decades to come.
The strategy provided a guide for counterspace operations and detailed a variety of offensive and defensive actions guardians could take to maintain space control and provide for the Pentagon’s success. Counterspace operations could be performed in three mission areas: orbital, electromagnetic and cyberspace warfare.
He advocated for establishing a declaratory policy for the USSF to move fast to respond to threats on U.S. assets in orbit in light of adversaries such as China rapidly growing their presence in the domain.
“We restrain ourselves from doing what is needful to avoid creating improper perceptions of ‘weaponizing space,'” Saltzman told Congress in written testimony. “In reality, space has been weaponized for at least two decades and our slowness to absorb that reality has held back our progress.”
What Does Chance Saltzman’s Success Mean for GovCon?
Saltzman’s success means that GovCon professionals can continue to expect prioritization of acquisition models that prioritize procuring commercially available technologies and speed to operation over perfection, as well as creative agency partnerships to acquire innovative capabilities to keep the USSF as a leader in space.
Congratulations to Gen. Chance Saltzman on his 2026 Wash100 Award!
Click here to cast your vote for Saltzman in the 2026 Wash100 popular vote competition.