Indian-American scientist Amit Kshatriya’s journey, from admiring rocket launches as a child in Houston to managing the operations behind them at NASA, has been nothing less than “to the moon and back”.
As NASA Associate Administrator, Amit Kshatriya serves as the agency’s top civil servant and as a senior adviser to Administrator Jared Isaacman.
He leads the space agency’s 10 center directors as well as the associate administrators of the Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. He also serves as the agency’s chief operating officer.
At the Artemis II press conference on Saturday, Amit Kshatriya praised not only the astronauts, but also their loved ones and all the people who built their vehicles and supported their mission, The Independent reported.
The Artemis II astronauts plunged safely into the Pacific Ocean on Saturday after returning from the moon – the first in more than 50 years.
Who is Amit Kshatriya?
Amit Kshatriya was born in Brookfield, Wisconsin, but considers Katy, a suburb of Houston, Texas, his hometown.
The son of first-generation Indian immigrant parents, Kshatriya earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California, and a master’s degree in mathematics from the University of Texas at Austin.
After briefly exploring the oil and gas industry after graduation, Amit Kshatriya joined NASA in 2003.
Amit Kshatriya’s Role in NASA, Artemis Mission
2003 – Kshatriya has worked as a software engineer, robotics engineer and spacecraft operator primarily focused on robotic assembly of the International Space Station, according to NASA’s website.
2014 to 2017– Served as Space Station Flight Director where he led global teams in the operation and execution of the Space Station through all phases of flight.
2017 to 2021 – Became Deputy and then Acting Manager of the ISS Vehicle Office, where he was responsible for engineering support, logistics and hardware program management.
2021 – He was assigned to NASA Headquarters as the Assistant Deputy Associate Administrator for ESDMD – where he was an integral part of the team that returned the spacecraft intended to carry humans to the Moon during the Artemis I mission.
2025 – Amit Kshatriya named NASA Associate Administrator.
According to a report by the Independent, there were problems with the heat shield on the first flight of Artemis, which carried no human passengers. Gases trapped in the shield’s outer layer were unable to vent as expected, leading to cracks.
Since then, the shield has undergone extensive testing, the report said.
