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Robert A. Yaskovic

Associate Manager, Exploration Ground Systems

Robert A. Yaskovic, Jr. is the associate manager of NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems (EGS) Program at NASA’s John F. Kennedy Space Center. Appointed to this position in August of 2024, he, along with the program manager and deputy program manager are responsible for leading the government and contractor team that is preparing the ground systems, infrastructure, facilities, and processes required to process and launch NASA’s Artemis space launch systems and spacecraft in support of America’s goal to reestablish a human presence on the Moon and facilitate human missions to Mars.

Experience

Yaskovic has more than 30 years of NASA experience across NASA Kennedy supporting the International Space Station and EGS Programs. He has built an impressive career, serving in various technical, programmatic, and leadership roles across the center and has been a long-standing advocate for the Artemis program.

Yaskovic began his NASA career in 1993 as a co-op in Shuttle Payloads Operations at NASA Kennedy. He converted to a full-time employee in the same organization where he served in numerous roles gaining technical, programmatic, and leadership experience. In 2006, he joined the International Space Station Business Office as the Checkout, Assembly, and Payload Processing Services Contracting Officer’s technical representative. This position led to Yaskovic’s first supervisory role in 2009 as chief of the International Space Station Business Office.

In 2012, Yaskovic joined the EGS Program as the Program Planning and Control division chief and led the team through the creation of the Joint Confidence Level, Key Decision Point C, and the agency’s programmatic commitments to Congress.

From 2016 to 2018, Yaskovic transitioned to lead the Program’s Systems Engineering and Integration (SE&I) Division where he led the establishment of Artemis operational processes and SE&I workforce planning for mobile launcher 2 development. The division provided technical management and engineering integration to ensure that ground and flight systems were safely designed and implemented for mission success.

In 2018, Yaskovic assumed leadership of the Command, Control and Communications (C3) Office. He oversaw a team of civil service and contractor personnel to manage the safe and effective execution of all C3 development, testing, and operational responsibilities, culminating in the successful launch of Artemis I in 2022. This role led to the unique opportunity to serve on a senior executive service detail as the Deputy Director for NASA Kennedy’s Safety and Mission Assurance (SMA) in 2022. Yaskovic assisted the SMA director, in planning and deploying safety, quality, and mission assurance disciplines to support program customers, commercial partners, and institutional teammates.

Awards

Yaskovic has received the NASA Distinguished Service Medal, NASA Exceptional Service Medal, Space Flight Awareness Launch Honoree Award, and numerous other honors and recognition.

Education

Yaskovic graduated from Auburn University in Alabama, with a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering cum laude in 1994.

Personal

Yaskovic was born in Jacksonville, North Carolina and grew up in Foley, Alabama. He lives in Rockledge, Florida with his wife, Robin, and is the father of two sons.