Luke Sauter Email and Phone Number

I am the Permanent Professor and Head of the Department of Astronautics, United States Air Force Academy. As the commanding officer for the Department of Astronautics I have final responsibility for curriculum, personnel, research, budget, long-range planning, faculty development, and cadet instruction. The Department of Astronautics helps produce the finest Air and Space Force officers in the world who live our core values and understand space. I supervises 35 Air Force officers, NCOs, civilians and support contractors offering 19 college-level courses annually to educate over 1,300 cadets in Astronautics and Space Operations. I also manage a dynamic $36.0M+ research program funded by Air Force Space Command, AFRL, and other DoD organizations. I graduated from the United States Air Force Academy in 2002 as a Distinguished Graduate with a Bachelor of Science degree in Astronautical Engineering. I earned his Master’s from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2004. I later earned his PhD in 2012 from the University of Surrey, UK. I have served assignments with the Air Force Research Laboratory, Space Vehicles Directorate, and the National Reconnaissance Office, as a program manager and as a Legislative Liaison prior to my current assignment with the Department of Astronautics at the U.S. Air Force Academy. I transferred in 2022 becoming the first Space Force Permanent Professor.