SPACE SYMPOSIUM SPEAKERS

John Rood

Chairman & Chief Executive Officer
Momentus

John Rood is the Chairman of the Board, President, and CEO of Momentus (NASDAQ: MNTS), a space company offering satellite buses and components, transportation services, and hosted payloads. 

Momentus is executing contracts for a range of U.S. Government organizations, including NASA, the Space Development Agency (SDA), SpaceWERX, and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).  Momentus is also executing contracts with a range of commercial customers in the U.S. and internationally.

Prior to joining Momentus, Mr. Rood held executive positions at two of the world’s largest aerospace and defense companies, Lockheed Martin and Raytheon.  From March 2016 to January 2018, he was Senior Vice President of Lockheed Martin International.  He also served as Vice President for Corporate Domestic Business Development at Lockheed Martin.

Prior to joining Lockheed Martin, Mr. Rood was Vice President for U.S. Business Development at Raytheon from 2009- 2014.

Public Sector Experience

Mr. Rood has a broad range of government experience, having served as a senior official at the Defense Department, State Department, White House/National

Security Council, Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and in Congress as a staffer in the U.S. Senate.

From January 2018 to February 2020, Mr. Rood served as Under Secretary of Defense for Policy where he led formulation and coordination of national security policy within the Department of Defense. 

From 2007 to 2009, Mr. Rood served at the State Department as Acting Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security.  He also served as Assistant Secretary of State for International Security and Nonproliferation.

In two tours at the White House/National Security Council from 2005 to 2006 and 2001 to 2003, he served under President George W. Bush as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Counter-proliferation Strategy, and Director for Proliferation Strategy, Counterproliferation, and Homeland Defense. 

Earlier in his career, Mr. Rood served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense responsible for space policy, and as a staffer to U.S. Senator Jon Kyl and Senator Thad Cochran.

Related Sessions

The Global Economics of Space

Thursday, April 16, 2026

2:45 pm - 3:30 pm

Track: