Auriga Space Welcomes Retired Lt. Gen. Trey Obering, Former Missile Defense Agency Director, as Advisor
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INTRODUCTION
One of the nation's most senior missile defense and space acquisition leaders joins Auriga as it advances electromagnetic launch as an alternative solution to interceptor shortages.
GARDEN GROVE, Calif., Aug. 19, 2026 — Lieutenant General Henry "Trey" Obering III, former director of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency, has joined as an advisor to Auriga Space as it advances electromagnetic launch as a low-cost, reusable alternative for air defense, hypersonics, and orbital launch.
As Director at MDA, he was the acquisition executive for every U.S. ballistic missile defense system, responsible for fielding the layered architecture the country relies on today. His earlier career spanned work with the Air Force and international programs as the Mission Area Director for Information Dominance on the Air Staff, an orbiter project engineer for NASA’s Space Shuttle program, and tours with the Air Force Inspector General, the Defense Mapping Agency, and Electronic Systems Center.
"Trey has sat in the chair where strategic decisions get made, and he understands the challenges facing missiledefense better than almost anyone," said Winnie Lai, founder and CEO of Auriga Space. "His guidance sharpens how we bring electromagnetic launch to the mission, and his belief in the technology tells us we are pointedin the right direction."
As the United States confronts a widening costand stockpile gap between the interceptors it can produce and the drone and missile threats it faces, Auriga reduces the reliance on solid rocket motors that power today’s interceptors. The company’s reusable electromagnetic platform accelerates a payload to high velocities with electricity through amagnetically levitated system and can launch again with rapid recharging. As aresult, the cost of each shot comes down to only the payload itself, cost of electricity, and the system, reducing the propellant supply chain's impact on the pace of replenishment.
With Auriga already under active contracts with the Air Force, Missile Defense Agency, and Army DEVCOM, GenObering's experience will help guide the technology toward the field.
“I’m very interested in helping Auriga Space to provide a disruptive capability to our warfighters,” said Lieutenant General Henry "Trey" Obering III. “Auriga has my support because their solutions could provide an answer to the cost imbalance and stockpile problem in front of us."
Gen Obering joins an advisory bench that includes former Stratolaunch CTO Dr. Daniel Millman, reinforcing Auriga's pushinto missile defense as it moves from its operational Prometheus platform toward its containerized Hermes launcher and its future defense systems.
About Auriga Space
Auriga Space is building a reusable, electrically powered launch platform that replaces traditional rockets with an electromagnetic accelerator for propulsion, reducing propellant, cutting cost, and launching payloads on-demand. Already serving defense and commercial aerospace customers with high-cadence, low-cost hypersonic testing, Auriga’s core technology scalesto applications in responsive space launch, counter-UAS and missile defense,and lunar mass drivers. Auriga’s mission is to make launch more affordable andeasily accessible. For more information, visit www.aurigaspace.com.
Media Contact:
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aurigaspace@deeptech.agency
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