Roy Tharpe is SGS Deputy Chief of Operations at Northrop Grumman and the Chairman of the National Space Club Florida Committee.
Mr. Tharpe’s career in aerospace began in 1963 as a data analyst in Hangar D serving as a part of Dr. Debus’ launch team. His 45 years of tireless service to our Nations Space Program and the Space Coast he calls home is keeping with the spirit of Dr. Kurt H. Debus, and the award that bears his name. Roy has walked on the shoulders of giants and in doing so has affected the course of our nation’s space program and he has mentored many great contributors to the aerospace industry both through his actions and his sense of duty.
Mr. Tharpe is currently a Northrop Grumman Executive assigned to Space Gateway Support (SGS), a joint venture LLC which held the Joint Base Operations and Support Contract (JBOSC). During the past year he was responsible for the 2000 employees that support launch readiness process’ for all SGS systems, equipment and services provided in support of major milestones including launch for the NASA and Air Force operations on KSC, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and Patrick Air Force Base.
Between Roy’s 33 years service to NASA and his current position with Northrop Grumman, he also worked for 11 years with the Boeing Company. During his tenure he held three senior management positions - Boeing’s first Launch Site Manager responsible for the integration of the International Space Station (ISS) hardware, Chief of Staff responsible to the Vice President of Boeing, Florida Operations, and Deputy of Florida Operations as well as acting Vice President of Space Exploration and Constellation Program Manager at Kennedy Space Center for Boeing Florida Operations.
Mr. Tharpe’s foundations as a leader in the aerospace community started with his experience on Dr. Kurt H Debus’ launch team in 1963. From 1963 until 1968, he was a data systems engineer in the Information Systems Directorate at KSC. From 1968 to 1973, he served as a NASA test support controller for the Apollo/Saturn launch team in the Launch Control Center (LCC). During the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project from 1975 to 1976, Mr. Tharpe returned to perform the function of lead test support controller in the LCC. In 1976, Mr. Tharpe was promoted to Manager, KSC Test Support Coordination Office, at the Dryden Flight Research Center, California, in support of NASA’s Shuttle approach and landing tests at Edwards Air Force Base. From 1977 to 1979, he returned to KSC to become the Support Test Manager for the Operations Control Branch involved in developing and implementing methods and procedures required for ground and launch operations activities at KSC in support of the Shuttle Program. From 1979 to 1982, Mr. Tharpe was promoted to Chief, Operations Control Branch. He returned to KSC in 1984 to serve as the lead cargo engineer in the Cargo Integration Division responsible for Shuttle/Cargo online processing. He then became Chief, Payloads Operations Division in 1986 and served in that capacity until his selection as Chief, Project Management Office, in 1989. He was named as Deputy Manager, Launch and Landing Projects Office, in 1991 and selected as Manager in September 1992. In 1993, Mr. Tharpe was a key member of an elite NASA team that visited the major Russian Space Program facilities in Moscow, Kaliningrad, Star City, and Baikonur to evaluate and provide an independent assessment to the Agency and ultimately to the White House concerning Russia’s capabilities to safely launch American Astronauts in to space. Mr. Tharpe was then promoted to Associate Director in the Shuttle Operations Directorate and his last assignment was Technical Chair of the Source Evaluation Board (SEB) for the Space Flight Operations Contract (SFOC) that was awarded in September 1996.
Mr. Tharpe holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics from Western Carolina College in Cullowhee, North Carolina. Mr. Tharpe received the NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal in 1993 and NASA’s Exceptional Service Medal in 1981 and in 1989. He also received the USAF Space Division Excellence Award and the US Army Corps of Engineer Certification of Accomplishment in 1984. In 1989, Mr. Tharpe received the National Intelligence Medal of Achievement. He has received many other awards and honors during his career with NASA.