J. Walter (“Walt”) Faulconer, the Applied Physics Laboratory’s (APL’s) business area executive for civilian space, is leaving May 14 to start a consulting business, Strategic Space Solutions, with his wife, Cindy. After 26 years at Lockheed Martin, Mr. Faulconer joined APL five years ago to take charge of APL’s work for NASA and NOAA. He successfully led APL’s civil space business through somewhat tumultuous times. Today, the civil space business area has a host of missions on the books, including Solar Probe Plus. The Faulconers’ new company will focus on effective strategic planning, business development, systems engineering and management.