Kirk Shireman

Lockheed Martin Corporation • Vice President, Human Space Exploration & Orion Program Manager

Kirk Shireman is Vice President for Human Space Exploration and Orion Program Manager and oversees the team designing and building NASA’s Orion spacecraft for human exploration of deep space. In this capacity, he is responsible for delivering the integrated Orion Crew and Service Module to NASA for the crewed Artemis missions to the Moon.

The program team successfully completed its first crewed mission to the Moon and back -- Artemis II -- from April 1 – 10, 2026. During the mission, the crew completed a record-setting lunar flyby, taking them 252,756 miles at their farthest distance from Earth and 4,067 miles above the lunar surface at their closest approach. This successful mission is a key step toward long term return to the Moon and future missions to Mars.

Previously, Shireman served as Lockheed Martin’s Vice President for Lunar Exploration Campaigns, which included the Transporter Element for the Human Lunar Landing System, nuclear thermal propulsion, and other space nuclear systems, as well as Space Habitats and Lunar Mobility systems. In this role, he led the team responsible for developing future systems and vehicles to support Human Space Exploration on the lunar surface, in lunar orbit, and beyond.

Prior to joining Lockheed Martin in July 2020, Kirk served as NASA’s International Space Station Program (ISS) Manager and was responsible for the overall management, development, integration, and operation of the ISS. This nearly $3B per year, 15-nation program encompasses the design, manufacture, testing and delivery of complex space flight hardware and software and its integration with modules from the international partners into a fully functional and operating permanently manned ISS. In addition, Kirk was responsible for policy development, international partner negotiations and the overall safety and health of the crew and on-orbit vehicle. Kirk also held other prior leadership roles, including deputy ISS program manager and chair of the ISS Mission Management Team

In addition, Kirk served as the deputy director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center. In this position, he worked with Johnson Center Director Ellen Ochoa to manage one of NASA’s largest installations, with nearly 14,000 civil service and contractor employees – including those at White Sands Test Facility in Las Cruces, N.M. – and an annual budget of approximately $5.1 billion and helped oversee a broad range of human spaceflight activities.

In March 2019, Kirk received the National Space Club Astronautics Engineer Award. He has also been recognized with NASA’s Outstanding Leadership Medal, NASA’s Exceptional Achievement Medal for successful integration of the ISS’s Russian elements, the Silver Snoopy award in 1990, and the Presidential Rank Award twice 2010 and 2017. In 2013, Shireman received the Eagle Manned Mission Award for his outstanding leadership of the ISS from the National Space Club at its 56th Annual Robert H. Goddard Memorial Dinner in Washington, D.C. Most recently, Kirk was appointed by Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick to serve on the board of directors for the Texas Space Commission.

Events

77th International Astronautical Congress (IAC 2026)

5 - 9 October 2026

Antalya, Türkiye

Participation:

International Astronautical Congress 2020

12-14 October 2020

Cyberspace edition

Participation: