SPACE SYMPOSIUM SPEAKERS

Barbara Golf

Executive Agent for Space Domain Awareness
U.S. Space Force

Barb Golf is the USSF Executive Agent for Space Domain Awareness (SDA) at Space Systems Command, Los Angeles Air Force Base, California. In this role, she aligns and integrates near-term SDA DOTMLPF-P (doctrine, organization, training, materiel, leadership and education, personnel, facilities, and policy) activities quickly into operations. She is also dual-hatted under USSF/Space Force Component for Space (S4S) with SSC as the lead for commercial operations, including the Joint Commercial Operations (JCO) cell, Commercial Integration Cell (CIC), and other initiatives such as Tactical Surveillance, Reconnaissance, and Tracking (TacSRT).

Mrs. Golf is a 2003 graduate of the United States Air Force Academy and served as a space acquisitions officer for radar systems and laser communications programs. She went on to support streamlined acquisition efforts for multi-billion-dollar Naval contracts to provide secure commercial handheld radios to combat units across the globe. Later joining the Space Superiority Systems Directorate, Barb spearheaded space kill chain analyses to assess end-to-end capabilities against multiple threat vignettes, creating overarching strategic architectures with time-phased investments for three mission areas – Space Control; Space Situational Awareness; and Battle Management Command, Control, and Communications. She evaluated technical readiness levels for prototype capabilities, supported military utility and risk assessments, and coordinated technical maturation across multiple Directorates and labs. She has also provided technical support for developmental operations to the Joint Space Operations Center’s (JSpOC) Combat Operations Division, supporting the modernization of concepts of operation and emergency procedures with the Weapons & Tactics team and enabling response options to critical space events. Prior to her current position, she was an operations trainer and crew evaluator for the National Space Defense Center for US Space Command, developing training as well as supporting prototype development and operational engineering teams tied to evolving threat missions. In that role, she created the Joint Task Force-Space Defense (JTF-SD) Commercial Operations (JCO) cell, establishing a global virtual SDA operations center with commercial and Allied partners that now functions as the unclassified operations entry point for space commercial capabilities for USSF.

Related Sessions

Salon Breakfast: HawkEye 360

Wednesday, April 15, 2026

7:15 am - 8:30 am

Track: