Administrator of NASA

Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
NASA seal Constituent part of the administrator's standard
Incumbent Sean Duffy Acting   since July 9, 2025
Reports to	President
Seat	Washington, D.C.
Nominator	The president with Senate advice and consent
Term length	At the pleasure of the president
Constituting instrument	51 U.S.C.   § 20111
Inaugural holder	Thomas Keith Glennan
Salary	$221,900 annually (Executive Schedule II)
Website	Janet Petro, NASA

The administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the highest-ranking official of NASA, the national space agency of the United States. The administrator is NASA's chief decision maker, responsible for providing clarity to the agency's vision and serving as a source of internal leadership within NASA. The office holder also has an important place within United States space policy, ^[1] and is assisted by a deputy administrator.

The administrator is appointed by the president of the United States, with the advice and consent of the United States Senate, and thereafter serves at the president's pleasure. Sean Duffy, the current United States secretary of transportation, has served as the acting administrator since July 9, 2025.

Duties and responsibilities

The administrator serves as NASA's chief executive officer, accountable to the president for the leadership necessary to achieve the agency's mission. This leadership requires articulating the agency's vision, setting its programmatic and budget priorities and internal policies, and assessing agency performance. ^[2]

History

The first administrator of NASA was Dr. T. Keith Glennan; during his term he brought together the disparate projects in space development research in the US. ^[3] Daniel Goldin held the post for the longest term (nearly 10 years), and is best known for pioneering the "faster, better, cheaper" approach to space programs. ^[4] The only person to hold the post twice is James C. Fletcher, who returned to NASA following the Challenger disaster. ^[5]

The current administrator is current United States secretary of transportation Sean Duffy, who was designated by President Donald Trump on July 9, 2025 as acting administrator. He replaced Janet Petro, who served as acting administrator following the stepping down of Biden-era head Bill Nelson on January 20, 2025. ^[6] Entrepreneur and commercial astronaut Jared Isaacman was nominated by Trump (while he was president-elect) on December 4, 2024, ^[7] but his nomination was withdrawn on May 31, ^[8] reportedly because of his connections to Elon Musk and donations towards Democratic, anti-Trump politicians. ^[9]

List of administrators

Status

  Denotes an acting administrator of NASA

  Denotes a presumptive nominee

No.	Portrait	Name	Took office	Left office	Days served	President serving under
1		T. Keith Glennan	August 19, 1958	January 20, 1961	885		Dwight D. Eisenhower
-		Hugh Dryden	January 11, 1961	February 14, 1961	24		John F. Kennedy
2		James E. Webb	February 14, 1961	October 7, 1968	1,035
					1,781 (2,816 total)		Lyndon B. Johnson
3		Thomas O. Paine	October 8, 1968	March 21, 1969	104
					60		Richard Nixon
			March 21, 1969	September 15, 1970	543 (707 total)
-		George Low	September 16, 1970	April 26, 1971	222
4		James C. Fletcher	April 27, 1971	May 1, 1977	1,200
					895		Gerald Ford
					101 (3258 total)		Jimmy Carter
-		Alan M. Lovelace	May 2, 1977	June 20, 1977	49
5		Robert A. Frosch	June 21, 1977	January 20, 1981	1,309
-		Alan M. Lovelace	January 21, 1981	July 10, 1981	171 (220 total)		Ronald Reagan
6		James M. Beggs	July 10, 1981	December 4, 1985	1,608
-		William Graham	December 4, 1985	May 11, 1986	158
7		James C. Fletcher	May 12, 1986	April 8, 1989	984
					78 (3258 total)		George H. W. Bush
-		Dale D. Myers	April 8, 1989	May 13, 1989	35
8		Richard H. Truly	May 14, 1989	June 30, 1989	47
			July 1, 1989	March 31, 1992	1,004 (1,052 total)
9		Daniel Goldin	April 1, 1992	November 17, 2001	294
					2,922		Bill Clinton
					301 (3,517 total)		George W. Bush
-		Daniel Mulville	November 19, 2001	December 21, 2001	32
10		Sean O'Keefe	December 21, 2001	February 11, 2005	1,148
-		Frederick D. Gregory	February 11, 2005	April 14, 2005	62
11		Michael D. Griffin	April 14, 2005	January 20, 2009	1,377
-		Christopher Scolese	January 20, 2009	July 17, 2009	178		Barack Obama
12		Charles Bolden	July 17, 2009	January 20, 2017	2,744
-		Robert M. Lightfoot Jr.	January 20, 2017	April 23, 2018	458		Donald Trump
13		Jim Bridenstine	April 23, 2018	January 20, 2021	1,003
-		Steve Jurczyk	January 20, 2021	May 3, 2021	103		Joe Biden
14		Bill Nelson	May 3, 2021	January 20, 2025	1,358
-		Janet Petro	January 20, 2025	July 9, 2025	170		Donald Trump
-		Sean Duffy	July 9, 2025	Incumbent	28

Line of succession

The line of succession for the administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration is as follows: ^[10]

1. Deputy administrator of NASA
2. Associate administrator of NASA
3. Chief of staff of NASA
4. Director of Johnson Space Center (Houston, Texas)
5. Director of Kennedy Space Center (Merritt Island, Florida)
6. Director of Marshall Space Flight Center (Redstone Arsenal, Alabama)

In the event of there being no deputy administrator of NASA, the associate administrator will serve as acting administrator.

See also

• Chairmen of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics
• NASA Chief Scientist

References

1. "NASA Strategic Management Handbook". Archived from the original on May 10, 2021. Retrieved April 23, 2021.
2. "Chapter 2-Roles and Responsibilities". Archived from the original on April 25, 2023. Retrieved April 23, 2021.
3. "T. Keith Glennan biography". NASA. August 4, 2006. Archived from the original on July 8, 2008. Retrieved July 5, 2008.
4. "Daniel S. Goldin biography". NASA. March 12, 2004. Archived from the original on June 15, 2008. Retrieved July 5, 2008.
5. "James C. Fletcher biography". NASA. Archived from the original on July 6, 2008. Retrieved July 5, 2008.
6. "KSC Director Petro to be Acting NASA Administrator". SpacePolicyOnline.com – Your first stop for news, information and analysis about civil, military and commercial space programs. January 20, 2025. Retrieved February 6, 2025.
7. "Trump Picks Jared Isaacman as NASA Administrator". Bloomberg.com. December 4, 2024. Retrieved December 4, 2024.
8. "White House to pull NASA nominee Isaacman". Archived from the original on May 31, 2025. Retrieved May 31, 2025.
9. Swan, Jonathan; Haberman, Maggie; Chang, Kenneth (May 31, 2025). "Trump to Withdraw Musk's Ally as Nominee for Top NASA Job". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved May 31, 2025.
10. "Designation of Officers of the National Aeronautics And Space Administration To Act as Administrator". Federal Register. January 22, 2009. Archived from the original on October 30, 2016. Retrieved October 30, 2016.