Acting NASA Administrator Sean P. Duffy Wednesday named Amit Kshatriya as the new associate administrator of NASA, the agency’s top civil service role.

A 20-year NASA veteran, he was most recently the deputy in charge of the Moon to Mars Program in the Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate (ESDMD) at NASA Headquarters in Washington. In this role, he was responsible for program planning and implementation for crewed missions to the Moon through the Artemis campaign in preparation for humanity’s first mission to Mars.

Promoting Kshatriya to NASA’s top ranks puts America’s return to the Moon through Artemis at the very core of our agency. The move exemplifies President Donald J. Trump and Duffy’s seriousness about returning Americans to the Moon and before China.

His promotion also signals how the Trump Administration sees the commercial space sector as an American economic engine. By putting a proven leader at the top, NASA is set to partner even more closely with America’s booming space industry, grow the space economy, and ensure the future of exploration is built in the United States.

Born in Wisconsin, educated at California Institute of Technology and the University of Texas at Austin, Kshatriya is one of only about 100 people in history to serve as a mission control flight director. He brings unparalleled operational and strategic experience to NASA’s executive leadership team.