George Nield Was Most Recently Acting Associate Administrator

The FAA announced Wednesday George C. Nield has been named associate administrator for commercial space transportation by Acting Administrator Robert Sturgell.

"Dr. Nield brings 30 years of aerospace experience to the job," said Sturgell. "We’re looking to Dr. Nield to usher in the era of commercial passengers in space."

The FAA's Office of Commercial Space Transportation (AST) licenses and regulates US commercial space launch and reentry activity, as well as the operation of non-federal launch and reentry sites. Established in 1984 and a line of business in the FAA since 1995, AST is responsible for the federal regulation of private human space flight activities.

Nield had served at the FAA as deputy associate administrator since 2003, and has been acting associate administrator since February. In 2003, Nield joined the FAA from the Orbital Sciences Corp., where he worked as senior scientist for the Advanced Programs Group. Previously, he served as manager of the Flight Integration Office for the Space Shuttle Program at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, and later worked on both the Shuttle/Mir Program and the International Space Station Program.

Earlier in his career, Nield served in the US Air Force (USAF) as an astronautical engineer at the Space and Missile Systems Organization, as a flight test engineer at the Air Force Flight Test Center, and as an assistant professor and research director at the USAF Academy.

A graduate of the USAF Academy, Dr. Nield holds a Master of Science and a Doctorate in Aeronautics and Astronautics from Stanford University, and a Master of Business Administration from George Washington University. He is also a flight test engineering graduate of the USAF Test Pilot School. Nield is a registered professional engineer and a Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

FMI: www.ast.faa.gov