NASA has announced an agencywide realignment that it says is intended to increase mission focus and speed up delivery of priorities set out in the National Space Policy.
The agency said the changes follow an “Ignition” event in late March where NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman and agency leaders outlined objectives for what NASA described as the next phase of US leadership in space. NASA linked the realignment to President Trump’s Executive Order Ensuring American Space Superiority, referred to in the release as the National Space Policy, which it said directs the agency to focus talent and resources on priorities including accelerating the Artemis program, establishing a Moon Base, developing a nuclear space reactor, igniting the orbital economy, and expanding science and discovery missions.
According to NASA, the restructuring is designed to increase specialisation at centres and integrate mission directorates. Under the new model, centre directors will continue reporting to Associate Administrator Amit Kshatriya, while mission directorates will report directly to the administrator. NASA also said Kshatriya will serve as NASA chief engineer.
The agency said it will continue efforts to rebuild “core competencies”, including insourcing contractors to civil servant roles “where appropriate”, strengthening its intern pipeline, and using a joint recruitment initiative with the US Office of Personnel Management called NASA Force.
“This initiative reflects NASA’s extreme focus on executing the mission in direct support of the National Space Policy. We are focusing resources on the most pressing objectives only NASA is capable of undertaking and liberating the workforce from unnecessary bureaucracy and obstacles that impede progress. We aim to rebuild competencies and instill a culture that attracts the best and brightest capable of pursuing the most demanding engineering challenges and moving safely and urgently,” said Isaacman. “There will be no reduction in force, no program cancellations, no closures, but we will achieve cost savings through more efficient execution and taking an active role in delivering the outcomes the world has been waiting for from NASA. This is how we deliver on the mission, meet the moment, and continue to make history on behalf of the American people.”
NASA said its mission directorates will be reorganised into three groups: the Human Spaceflight Mission Directorate (HSMD), the Research and Technology Mission Directorate (RTMD), and the Science Mission Directorate (SMD), which remains unchanged.
Under the changes, NASA said the Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate and Space Operations Mission Directorate will unify as HSMD. The agency also said it will combine the Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate and the Space Technology Mission Directorate into RTMD, which it described as a combined research, space technology and aeronautics organisation tasked with nuclear power and propulsion development.
NASA listed additional leadership roles associated with the realignment, including: John Bailey (associate administrator, Mission Support Directorate); Kevin Coggins (director, Space Communications and Navigation, RTMD); Carlos García-Galán (program manager, Moon Base, HSMD); Dr. Lori Glaze (associate administrator, HSMD); Dr. James Kenyon (associate administrator, RTMD); Steve Sinacore (acting director, Space Reactor Office; program manager for SR-1 and LR-1, RTMD); and Adam Steltzner (chief engineer for Special Projects). NASA said leadership at unlisted centres remains unchanged.
More information is available at https://www.nasa.gov/nasa-leadership.
