Cliff Lanham

Cliff Lanham is the acting deputy manager of NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems (EGS) Program at the John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. Appointed to this position in May 2025, he, along with the program manager, is responsible for leading the government and contractor team that is preparing the ground systems, infrastructure, facilities and processes required to support NASA’s next-generation space launch systems and spacecraft and then processing those same vehicles for launch.

Experience

From October 2020 until May 2025, Lanham was the Senior Vehicle Operations Manager/Flow Director for EGS.  He was responsible for the overall management, planning, integration, and execution of all Vehicle Assembly Building operational activities required for the launch readiness of the Orion spacecraft and SLS (Space Launch System) rocket on the Artemis I deep space flight. He completed the planning and SLS vehicle stacking for Artemis II prior to taking over his current role as deputy program manager.

From June 2016 to September 2020, he was the senior project manager for the mobile launcher (ML). In this role, he was responsible for all design, development, fabrication, construction, and testing of the ML structure, ground support systems, and facility systems. He also was responsible for all multi-element verification and validation between the ML and Vehicle Assembly Building, and the ML and Launch Pad 39B.

In 2009, he joined NASA working operations integration for the Constellation Program, Ground Systems Development and Operations, and EGS prior to becoming the ML-1 senior program manager. Lanham originally came to NASA Kennedy in 2007 as a project manager for Arctic Slope Regional Corporation. He progressed to the Director level managing the labs and shops assigned to the University-affiliated Spaceport Technology Development Contract.

Prior to arriving at NASA Kennedy, Lanham worked with Orbital Sciences Corp., which is now Northrup Grumman, at Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, for 16 years. He supported missions servicing the Hubble Space Telescope and supplying hardware to the International Space Station. Lanham has worked in the aerospace industry for a total of 35 years, 33 of which have been with NASA and NASA contractor organizations.

Education

Lanham graduated from Glen Burnie High School in Glen Burnie, Maryland, in 1984. He earned a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering from the University of Maryland-Baltimore County in 1989 and a Master of Science in mechanical engineering from the George Washington University in 1998.

Personal

Lanham was born in Baltimore, Maryland, and currently lives in Cape Canaveral, Florida, with his wife and son.

Biography last updated May 2025