Moon-to-Mars veteran Amit Kshatriya named NASA associate administrator

Amit Kshatriya, a veteran of NASA's Moon to Mars Program, has been named associate administrator, the agency's top civil-service role.

"Amit has spent more than two decades as a dedicated public servant at NASA, working to advance American leadership in space. Under his leadership, the agency will chart a bold vision to return to the moon during President Trump's term," Acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy said in a statement on Wednesday (Sept. 3) that announced the selection.

"Amit's knowledge, integrity, and unwavering commitment to pioneering a new era of exploration make him uniquely qualified to lead our agency as associate administrator," he added. "With Amit, we'll continue to push the boundaries of what’s possible."

Kshatriya was born in Wisconsin to first-generation Indian immigrants. He earned a bachelor's degree in math from the California Institute of Technology and a master's in the same subject from the University of Texas at Austin.

Kshatriya has held a number of jobs at NASA since joining the agency in 2003, including software engineer and spacecraft operator. He was flight director for the International Space Station (ISS) from 2014 to 2017, then moved to the ISS Vehicle Office, where he served as deputy and acting manager.

In 2021, Kshatriya was assigned to the Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate (ESDMD) at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C. He became deputy associate administrator for ESDMD's Moon to Mars Program.

"In that role, Kshatriya was responsible for program planning and implementation for human missions to the moon and Mars," Kshatriya's NASA biography states. "He directed and led the programs to ensure Artemis and Mars planning, development, and operations were consistent with ESDMD requirements, and served as the single point of focus for risk management."

The NASA associate administrator is the highest-ranking civil servant (as opposed to political appointee) at the agency.

In this role, Kshatriya oversees the directors of NASA's 10 research centers and the leaders of the agency's mission directorates in Washington, D.C. He also acts as NASA's chief operating officer and serves as a senior advisor to Duffy, according to Kshatriya's NASA biography.

Kshatriya takes over from Vanessa Wyche, the director of NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, who had been serving in an acting capacity since February of this year.