All Team Members

John Hyten

Senior Principal Advisor

John Hyten is a Senior Principal Advisor for Elara Nova. He brings more than 40 years of experience in space and missile operations to the core team.

Before retiring from the U.S. Air Force (USAF), General Hyten’s honorable military career concluded with his service as Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. In this role, Hyten served as the nation’s second-highest ranking military officer and was responsible for supporting and overseeing joint military requirements for nearly 1.5 million service members and their families across the U.S. Armed Forces. Hyten previously served as Commander of the United States Strategic Command and the Air Force Space Command. Additional commands Hyten oversaw during his military career included the 6th Space Operations Squadron, 595th Space Group, and 50th Space Wing.

Hyten’s military responsibilities also included roles as Mission Director, Space Operations Officer, and Chief of Command Center Training for the United States Space Command at Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station, Colo., Chief of the Engineering and Acquisition Division of the Space Defense Programs Office, and Chief of the Space Control Division, Directorate for Space Operations and Integration, and Deputy Chief of Staff for Air and Space Operations. Hyten also served a deployment to Southwest Asia as Director of Space Forces of the U.S. Central Command Air Forces during Operations ENDURING FREEDOM and IRAQI FREEDOM.

Hyten brings extensive acquisition experience to the team, as his career responsibilities included roles as Director of Space Acquisition at the Office of the Under Secretary of the Air Force and Director of Space Programs at the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition. He also served in senior engineering positions on both Air Force and Army Anti-Satellite Weapon System Programs

After Hyten’s retirement in 2021, he has continued to be involved in the space industry as a Strategic Advisor to Blue Origin and Executive Director for its STEM-focused non-profit Club for Future. Hyten also serves on the Space Foundation’s Board of Directors and as an advisory board member for C3.ai and the National Defense Industrial Association’s Emerging Technologies Institute.

Hyten attended Harvard University on an Air Force Reserve Officers Training Corps scholarship, where he graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in engineering and applied sciences. He also earned an MBA from Auburn University at Montgomery and is a distinguished graduate from Squadron Officer School and Air Command and Staff College. Hyten was also a National Defense Fellow at the University of Illinois.