WASHINGTON — NASA has named Amit Kshatriya as its new associate administrator in a move meant to emphasize the role of exploration at the agency.
NASA announced Sept. 3 that its acting administrator, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, appointed Kshatriya to the post, the agency’s top-ranking civil service job.
The position had been filled on an acting basis since early this year by Vanessa Wyche, director of the Johnson Space Center. She took over after Jim Free, associate administrator since early 2024, left in February.
Kshatriya had led the Moon to Mars Program Office, created in 2023. Congress ordered the office’s creation in a 2022 authorization bill to oversee integration of the Artemis lunar exploration campaign.
NASA said in a statement that elevating Kshatriya showed it was putting exploration “at the very core of our agency.”
“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,” Duffy said in the statement.
The announcement came just before a Senate Commerce Committee hearing where witnesses, including former NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, warned that China could land astronauts on the moon before NASA returns crews through Artemis.
“I very much appreciate Secretary Duffy’s decisive action, his decisive leadership, in elevating the head of the Moon to Mars program to associate administrator,” said Mike Gold, president of civil and international space at Redwire and a former NASA official.
“That sends an important message not just to NASA but to our international partners, even China, that we’re back, we have reignited the torch of Artemis, and we’re going to the moon,” he said. “NASA civil servants needed to hear that.”
The move also highlighted the lack of permanent leadership at the agency. President Trump named Duffy acting administrator almost two months ago, replacing Kennedy Space Center Director Janet Petro, but has yet to nominate a permanent leader since withdrawing Jared Isaacman’s nomination in May. At the time, Trump said he would “soon announce” a new nominee but has not done so.
There has been no action on nominations of Matt Anderson as deputy administrator, made in May, or Greg Autry as chief financial officer, made in March. Those are two of three other positions at NASA requiring Senate confirmation. The other, inspector general, has had acting leaders for more than a year.
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