Jaya Bajpayee

Title: Deputy Director for Exploration Technology

Organization: Exploration Technology Directorate

Professional Background

Ms. Jaya Bajpayee has over 30 years of science, engineering, and program experience. Throughout her career, she has had the privilege of serving in numerous positions that utilized her skills to formulate and direct strategic initiatives, lead high performing teams, and mentor talented individuals.

Jaya serves as the Deputy Director of Exploration Technology Directorate. In this role she provides executive leadership, overall strategic planning and direction, and effective management for all elements of an organization comprising of advanced supercomputing, human systems integration, intelligent systems, and entry systems technology. Previously she served as the Director of Programs and Projects providing executive oversight of VIPER, SOFIA, the Small Sat Technology Program and NASA’s Small Satellite Virtual Institute. Jaya joined ARC in 2017 as the Deputy Director of Science. Jaya spent over 20 years at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center as a project manager, where she formulated, developed, and operated space flight projects across the breadth of NASA’s Science and NOAA GOES. She spent 4 years at NASA Headquarters as a Program Executive and a short time at Glen Research Center as the Deputy Director of Space Flight Systems Directorate. Jaya started her NASA career as a Range Safety Officer at the Wallops Flight Facility.

Jaya has worked at 4 NASA Centers gaining valuable experience in areas of executive leadership, program and project management, business development, technology development, science, and range safety. Jaya is a mentor and advocates for diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in the workplace. She is a graduate of Senior Managers in Government at Harvard Kennedy School of Government and NASA’s Senior Executive Candidate Development Program.

Contact Info

Email: jaya.bajpayee@nasa.gov

Phone: 650.604.5472