Steven A. Sinacore
Acting Director, Space Reactors Division, Research and Technology Mission Directorate
Steven A. Sinacore serves as acting director for NASA’s Space Reactors Division within the agency’s Research and Technology Mission Directorate. In this position, he supports the overall management and development of Space Reactor-1 Freedom, the first nuclear-propelled spacecraft in human history to venture beyond Earth’s orbit into deep space.
Additionally, this position supports NASA in its implementation and execution of other nuclear missions, such as Lunar Reactor -1, which will propel America into the next generation of space exploration by proving technologies that will be essential for future human missions to Mars and beyond.
Most recently, Sinacore served as NASA’s program executive for Fission Surface Power at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, where he was responsible for managing the agency’s work to advance fission surface power development. This critical technology will support lunar exploration, provide high-power energy generation on Mars, and strengthen national security in space.
Sinacore served as the director of Aeronautics at NASA Glenn and was responsible for the project management, workforce planning, budget oversight, and executive leadership of aeronautics research and development activities at the center.
Previously, he served as the deputy project manager of the Power and Propulsion Element for the agency’s Gateway initiative. In this position, Sinacore shared responsibility for leading a cross-agency team of 140 personnel and managing a more than $1 billion development contract with Intuitive Machines.
Prior to that, Sinacore managed studies of the environmental impacts of supersonic aircraft and was a critical leader on the reestablishment of NASA’s Hypersonic Technology Project under the Advanced Air Vehicles Program. Sinacore also served as the chief of the Advanced Aircraft Project Office at Glenn, where he successfully led his team in performing cutting-edge aeronautics research.
After joining NASA Glenn in 2005, Sinacore held several leadership and project management positions across the center and gained a breadth of knowledge in aeronautics, spaceflight systems, facilities, and research and engineering. He holds a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering from The Pennsylvania State University and a master’s degree in engineering from Case Western Reserve University.