NASA Kennedy Center Director Announces Plans to Retire

Portrait of Janet Petro, center director for NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.Credit: NASA NASA announced Friday Janet Petro, center director for the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, is retiring. Prior to joining NASA, Petro worked in a variety of military and industry positions, ultimately beginning her career at the agency in 2007 and working her way up to center director, as well as serving as acting administrator from January to July 2025. “From the outset of her distinguished tenure at NASA, Janet has served as a profoundly influential leader, guiding both the agency and our Kennedy Space Center through some of the most significant transitions in our shared history, including playing a central role in reshaping NASA Kennedy into the nation’s premier multiuser spaceport,” said NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman. “As NASA has been charged, once again, with accomplishing the near impossible, I’m grateful for Janet for always embracing the challenge of discovering what could be and for pushing the boundaries to deliver the missions that enable NASA to lead the way into a new era of space.” As NASA Kennedy’s 11th director, Petro manages a team of civil service and contractor employees, determining and implementing center policy and managing and executing the spaceport’s missions and agency program responsibilities. Previously, Petro served as acting director and NASA Kennedy’s deputy director. During her time as deputy director, she helped the center transition into a multi-user spaceport, leading cross-agency initiatives with the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) and U.S. Air Force to streamline government processes and support commercial space operations to increase government efficiency and limit redundancy. Petro also has served numerous roles at Kennedy and NASA Headquarters in Washington, including as the program executive on an agencywide initiative to restructure mission support functions, helping NASA become more efficient and effect