Kristin Panzenhagen

Kristin Panzenhagen, a 2000 graduate with a bachelor’s degree in aeronautical and astronautical engineering, began her career as an aircraft maintenance officer through the U.S. Air Force Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) program. She later transitioned to developmental engineering, focusing on aircraft propulsion, structures research, and space operations. Panzenhagen held key roles in managing multi-domain command and control programs, missile warning and defense initiatives, and satellite ground enterprise programs. She demonstrated exceptional leadership, commanding the National Air and Space Intelligence Center’s Foreign Materiel Exploitation Squadron and contributing to national space policy at the National Reconnaissance Office. Panzenhagen moved from the Air Force to the U.S. Space Force in 2021 and was promoted to brigadier general in 2023. She now oversees more than 37,000 people across multiple Space Force bases and leads the $13.5 billion National Security Space Launch Program. Panzenhagen also supervises U.S. government and commercial satellite launches from Cape Canaveral and manages resources for the Space Force’s $30 billion Eastern and Western Range portfolios. Purdue honored her with a Distinguished Engineering Alumna Award in 2024.