After SpaceX launched the Demo-2 mission on May 30, Kathy Leuders served as deputy administrator for NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate.
Kim Shiftlet/NASA
Kathy Lueders is NASA’s newest top human spaceflight official, joining Elon Musk after retiring from the agency a few weeks ago, CNBC has learned. ) of SpaceX.
Lueders will work at the company’s “Starbase” facility in Texas and report directly to SpaceX President and Chief Operating Officer Gwynne Shotwell, people familiar with the matter told CNBC.
It’s an important hire for SpaceX, as the company aims to safely fly people on its massive Starship rocket within the next few years. Lueders, a respected expert in the field, is already familiar with the company’s human spaceflight work to date.
A SpaceX Starship lifts off from the launch pad during a flight test at Starship Base in Boca Chica, Texas, on April 20, 2023.
Patrick T. Fallon | AFP | Getty Images
