WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate on Aug. 7 confirmed Erich Hernandez-Baquero to oversee military space acquisition and Roger Mason to lead the National Reconnaissance Office, putting two industry veterans in charge of major parts of the U.S. national security space enterprise as Washington accelerates spending on satellites and overhauls how it buys them.
Hernandez-Baquero and Mason were among a large group of civilian nominees confirmed by a 51-47 vote. Their approvals came a day after the Senate confirmed Gen. Douglas Schiess to be a four-star general and the next chief of space operations.
Together, the confirmations install new leaders at three organizations responsible for defining military space requirements, acquiring Space Force systems and operating the nation’s intelligence satellites.
Hernandez-Baquero becomes assistant secretary of the Air Force for space acquisition and integration, making him the senior civilian official responsible for much of the Space Force’s acquisition enterprise. He takes office as the service seeks a record $71.1 billion fiscal 2027 budget and reorganizes acquisition programs around mission-focused Portfolio Acquisition Executives, or PAEs, intended to push authority closer to the officials responsible for delivering operational capability.
A retired Air Force colonel, Hernandez-Baquero comes to the job from Raytheon, where he was vice president for space intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. He previously held several acquisition positions at the NRO, including senior leadership roles overseeing command-and-control and data-processing systems.
His arrival gives the Space Force its first Senate-confirmed acquisition executive since Frank Calvelli left the government in January 2025. Hernandez-Baquero inherits an acquisition structure that has changed substantially in the interim, with traditional program executive offices being reorganized under PAEs responsible for broader mission areas rather than individual programs.
During his July confirmation hearing, Hernandez-Baquero said his priorities would be acquisition reform, integration across missions and rebuilding the acquisition workforce. He said the new structure should be judged by whether it delivers integrated capabilities to military operators rather than individual satellites or ground systems.
Mason to replace Scolese
Mason, meanwhile, takes control of an NRO that is already in the midst of one of the largest architectural changes in its history.
The agency, which develops, acquires, launches and operates U.S. intelligence satellites, has moved beyond its historical dependence on small numbers of large, highly capable spacecraft and is deploying a proliferated constellation intended to provide more frequent imagery and greater resilience.
Mason succeeds Christopher Scolese, who left the agency July 10 after nearly seven years as director.
He brings a mix of government and industry experience. Mason was most recently chief growth officer at defense contractor V2X and previously headed Peraton’s space and intelligence business. Earlier in his career, he served as the first assistant director of national intelligence for systems and resource analyses, helping set intelligence requirements and evaluate major acquisition investments.
Mason told senators his top priorities would be accelerating an architecture that combines proliferated satellites with more sophisticated government systems, speeding adoption of new technology and making the NRO’s entire enterprise from satellites through ground networks more resilient.
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