Hawthorne-based SpaceX has hired Kathy Lueders, a former NASA associate administrator who recently retired from the space agency, to work on the company’s next-generation Starship program.
Lueders is a general manager at Starbase, SpaceX’s launch facility in southern Texas, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified discussing personnel changes.
SpaceX both builds and launches its massive deep-space Starship vehicle from the facility.
The hiring was reported earlier by CNBC.
Prior to joining SpaceX, Lueders spent roughly three decades at NASA, working on both the Space Shuttle and the International Space Station programs.
She served as the manager of the Commercial Crew Program, which worked extensively with SpaceX to launch the company’s first human spaceflight missions to the ISS.
She also served as NASA’s first female associate administrator for human exploration.
Lueders left NASA at the end of last month. When she stepped down, she said on Twitter she was taking some much-needed time off, but “will be back for my next adventure.”
Elon Musk’s launch company has a history of hiring former NASA officials. In 2020, the company brought on former NASA official William Gerstenmaier, who had served as NASA’s associate administrator for human spaceflight for about 14 years.
SpaceX is navigating the aftermath of its unsuccessful launch of the giant rocket for which it has major plans in the years ahead.
Wildlife and environmental groups sued the Federal Aviation Administration last month over the Texas launch. Despite the explosion, Musk said his company could be ready to launch the next Starship in six to eight weeks with the FAA’s OK.
Musk has promised to make improvements to the next Starship before it flies. The self-destruct system will need to be modified, he said, so that the rocket explodes immediately — not 40 seconds or so afterward, as was the case with this inaugural run, he said.
SpaceX’s…
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