Former NASA Acting Administrator Steve Jurczyk joins IBX as Executive Vice President of Space Operations
IBX, an innovation and investment firm revolutionizing the space and energy sectors, announced today the addition of Steve Jurczyk as Executive Vice President of Space Operations. Jurczyk, who recently served as NASA’s Acting Administrator after a 33-year career at the U.S. space agency, will add his technical and leadership expertise to the IBX team, expanding efforts to explore market opportunities in space, technology, and energy to positively impact the world.
“We are delighted Steve Jurczyk is joining the IBX team, bringing a wealth of knowledge and his highly valued perspective about the aerospace industry to our strategic growth efforts of building the next-generation commercial space economy,” said Kam Ghaffarian, Founder and CEO of IBX. “Steve’s focus on innovation and leading breakthrough teams at NASA and across the country helped open the door to this new era in space exploration. We are lucky to have him on our IBX team.”
In his new role, Jurczyk will advise space initiatives across all IBX affiliated companies, supporting efforts from space hardware to space nuclear. He will also help expand IBX’s work as an innovation incubator, supporting opportunities for market growth in the commercial space landscape.
IBX is led by Dr. Ghaffarian, whose mission to advance the state of humanity and human knowledge has led him to create groundbreaking companies and charities. Dr. Ghaffarian has co-founded and is the Executive Chairman of several ventures, including: Axiom Space, advancing the commercial utilization of space and building and operating the first commercial space station; Intuitive Machines, the premier provider of space services and technologies, which will send the first American spacecraft to the surface of the Moon since the Apollo program, and X-energy, a nuclear reactor and fuel design company building the world’s first commercial scale advanced nuclear reactor and fuel facility.
“I’m excited to join IBX and Dr. Ghaffarian’s innovative team and continue my commitment to strengthening this new era in space exploration,” said Jurczyk, whose appointment takes effect Monday, August 9, 2021.
During his three decades at NASA, Steve Jurczyk served in every major leadership role and obtained the highest honors available at the agency. He was appointed Acting Administrator (January – May 2021), leading the agency’s workforce through a time of transition. As Associate Administrator, he was NASA’s highest-ranking civil servant supervising all center directors and ensuring the success of agency programs. As Associate Administrator of the Space Technology Mission Directorate, he formulated and executed the agency’s space technology programs, focusing on developing and demonstrating transformative technologies for human and robotic exploration of the solar system in partnership with industry and academia. He was also a Center Director, leading the team at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. Jurczyk began his NASA career in 1988 at Langley in the Electronic Systems Branch as a design, integration, and test engineer developing several space-based Earth remote sensing systems. He worked his way up through the center’s ranks by contributing to a broad range of research, technology, and engineering disciplines in all NASA mission areas.
Jurczyk has received several awards during his NASA career, including two Outstanding Leadership Medals, the Distinguished Service Medal, the Presidential Rank Award for Meritorious Executive in 2006, and the Presidential Rank Award for Distinguished Executive in 2016 — the highest honors attainable for federal government leadership.
ABOUT IBX:
IBX is an innovation and investment firm exploring new frontiers in space, technology, and energy to push human potential and positively impact the world. IBX was founded by Dr. Kam Ghaffarian, a visionary entrepreneur and engineer whose mission to advance the state of humanity and human knowledge has led him to create companies transforming the space and energy sectors. He is the CEO of IBX, the co-founder and Executive Chairman of X-energy, Intuitive Machines, and Axiom Space, and supports several other innovative companies and charities.
