Kurt Kuntzelman
Partner
Kurt has notable experience implementing large space projects for both the Defense Department and the U.S. Intelligence Community, bringing together teams from different nations, agencies, and companies to work together. Further underscoring his expertise and leadership in space and defense, Kurt also currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Professional Aerospace Contractors Association (PACA) of New Mexico, the Space Force Association-New Mexico Chapter, and is a Partner with Elara Nova: The Space Consultancy.
Currently, Kurt serves as the Strategic Account Manager at Red Hat, where he manages executive-level relationships and is the primary thought leader for the Space Force and Red Hat Sales team. He focuses on solving customer’s and partner’s critical missions and IT modernization efforts using Red Hat services and solutions. Red Hat is the world’s leading provider of enterprise open source technologies including AI, virtualization, modernization, edge, app development, and automation solutions. Kurt has an impressive 34-year record of business development, program management, satellite operations, and lifecycle expertise for multi-billion-dollar global space system networks.
Prior to Red, Kurt served as the Chief Defense & Space Officer at RS21 where he developed the go-to-market strategy for SPAICE, an AI/ML-driven platform that integrates predictive maintenance (PdM) to optimize satellite & ground operations system performance. Kurt also served as Vice President of Space Growth at Parsons Corporation, where he oversaw the company’s space-related business strategy and development in the defense and intelligence market, highlighting his commitment to shaping the future of national security and global infrastructure. Kurt also made significant business development, capture, and growth leadership contributions to Braxton Science and Technologies, SAIC, Engility and TASC.
A retired Colonel from the U.S. Air Force, Kurt’s military career is marked by distinguished leadership in space operations, program management and logistics. His last active-duty assignment was as Chair of the Space Industry Study and Associate Professor at National Defense University’s The Eisenhower School.
Kurt is also a National Defense Fellow from MIT and has a bachelor’s degree from the U.S. Air Force Academy, a Master of Science in Systems Management – Space Systems from the Air Force Institute of Technology, and an MBA from the University of South Dakota.