Jennifer W. Lyons

Jenny Lyons is the deputy program manager for the Launch Services Program at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where she is responsible for overseeing NASA’s provision and management of domestic commercial launch services for robotic missions

Lyons ensures overall mission success through leading, managing, and directing the progress of planning and acquisition of launch services, expendable launch vehicle engineering and analysis, mission integration, launch vehicle production, launch site processing, launch campaigns, and launch. LSP is responsible for launching the nation’s most prized scientific and robotic spacecraft, such as the Mars rover Perseverance, Parker Solar Probe, and the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite series.

Experience

Lyons joined NASA and the Kennedy Space Center in 1988 as an operations engineer in the Shuttle Processing organization after working for Grumman Aerospace on the Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (Joint STARS) Program.  

In 1993, she served as a member of the Space Station Redesign Team and was assigned temporarily to NASA Headquarters.  Upon returning to Kennedy, she was chosen as the NASA Vehicle Manager (NVM) for OV-103/Discovery. As NVM, and subsequently as the acting flow director, she was responsible for planning and management of orbiter and integrated space shuttle operations for the orbiter Discovery. She was the first woman to serve as NASA Convoy Commander (NCC) for a space shuttle landing and was the first woman to serve as the senior official for ferry flight cross-country operations of the orbiter and Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA).

In 1998, she served as Kennedy’s Strategic Planning Manager. In this role, she advised the Center Director and Deputy Director, as well as senior management, on Kennedy strategic planning policy, initiatives and analyses concerning present and future Kennedy operations and development.

From 2003-2004, she was the Deputy Director of Kennedy’s Human Resources Office, before transitioning to the Launch Services Program (LSP). 

Lyons served as the LSP chief of the Fleet and Systems Management Division from 2005-2020 where she led the program’s technical integration of the launch vehicle fleets and missions, providing required insight and approval for independent NASA assessment of launch vehicle readiness, and launch vehicle certification. In 2010, she chaired the NASA Launch Services (NLS) II source evaluation board, which awarded multiple contracts to meet NASA’s requirements for competitive, commercial launch services.

From 2020-2024, Lyons was the deputy manager for the Gateway Program’s Deep Space Logistics where she led the integration of commercial logistics missions to the Gateway; a unique, orbiting outpost around the Moon that will support NASA’s Artemis missions to the lunar surface, as well as the agency’s Moon to Mars exploration initiatives. Her responsibilities included oversight of the design, development, test and evaluation of the commercial spacecraft, launch vehicles and integration services. She led the source evaluation board for the Gateway Logistics Services (GLS) contract, which provides a recurring commercial supply and transportation capability to support crew, science, and exploration needs, while also enabling long-term commercial capabilities for deep space.

Awards

Lyons was a recipient of a Space Flight Awareness Management Honoree Award in 2018, NASA Exceptional Service Medals in 2005 and 2018, the Kennedy Space Center Strategic Leadership Award in 2004 and 2020, NASA Exceptional Achievement Medals in 1993 and 2001, and numerous group achievement awards. Additionally, she was recognized in 2021 by the terrestrial logistics industry for her contributions to the logistics field, and 2022 as a distinguished alumni by the University of Central Florida College of Engineering and Computer Science.

Education

Lyons received a Bachelor of Science in aerospace and ocean engineering from Virginia Tech, a Master of Science in space technology from the Florida Institute of Technology, and a Master of Science in engineering management from the University of Central Florida.

Biography last updated March 2024