Kevin Grelck

Kevin Grelck is the chief of the Flight Dynamics Branch in NASA’s Launch Services Program (LSP) at John F. Kennedy Space Center in Florida. He leads three analytical teams that collectively ensure the rocket flies the mission precisely as designed. The Flight Design team develops and assesses trajectory design and vehicle performance. The Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GNC) team ensures control of rockets to meet mission requirements while accounting for six degrees of freedom in flight. Finally, the Flight Software team assesses the implementation of mission specific design parameters into rocket software to autonomously fly the mission and meet all requirements for success.

Grelck’s teams support every phase of a spacecraft’s lifecycle, from early concept studies and advanced mission planning that tailor trajectories to mission science, through recommending the appropriate launch vehicle to meet requirements and mass to orbit needs. In the final prelaunch phase, all three teams conduct a comprehensive review to verify correct mission design implementation, guidance algorithms, and flight software configuration. Only after testable dispersions demonstrate the proper response does the branch give the “go” to proceed to launch.

Experience

Grelck has served his entire professional career at NASA within LSP, beginning in October 2004 following his graduation from the Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne.

He began in the Flight Analysis Division as a member of the Thermal Analysis team, helping develop an uncertainty analysis method for the Delta IV upper stage liquid oxygen tank for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-O (GOES‑O) mission. In 2005, he moved to the Flight Software Analysis team, expanding capabilities to verify mission software testing and processes across LSP’s fleet of launch vehicles.

In 2016, Grelck became the Flight Software team lead, continuing to grow the group’s capabilities and efficiency to cover emerging launch vehicles. He served in that role for eight years, marking 19 total years in the Flight Software discipline, before being selected as the Flight Dynamics Branch Chief in April 2024, where he continues his career with the Launch Services Program.

Awards

Grelck has received several high-level awards within LSP and center wide. These include a Kennedy Space Center Certificate of Appreciation in 2014 for leading development of a remote flight software test review capability for Atlas V missions, improving robustness and efficiency while saving the agency money. Additionally, he received a Kennedy Certificate of Commendation in 2019 for outstanding leadership and technical contributions to the SpaceX Falcon 9 launch vehicle flight software oversight and independent verification and validation.

Education

Grelck earned a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering from the Florida Institute of Technology in 2004.

Personal

Grelck grew up in Chicago, Illinois. He and his wife, Michelina, have two children, Olivia and Mason. He enjoys playing ice hockey, woodworking, traveling with family, and coaching Mason’s baseball team.

Biography created February 2026