SPARKS, Nev. — Sierra Nevada Corporation last month announced that Janet Kavandi, senior vice president of the company's Space Systems business area, has been recognized with the Presidential Rank Award (PRA), the nation's highest civilian career federal leadership award.
According to a Dec. 18 press release from SNC, the White House selected the 2019 awardees, all of whom were recognized Dec. 17 at the PRA Leadership Summit in Washington, D.C.
Per the release, Kavandi is a former NASA astronaut and was director of the agency's Glenn Research Center. She retired in September after 25 years with NASA.
Now, within SNC's Space Systems business area, Kavandi oversees all programs including the production and testing of the "Dream Chaser" spaceplane, which will service the International Space Station under NASA contract starting in late 2021.
“Getting Dream Chaser flown for the first time — to see it launch and land successfully — will be amazing,” Kavandi said in a statement. “I spent a lot of time in government thinking about flying in space and I want to enable humanity to do even more in the exploration of space. I'm very grateful for this honor and I'm as motivated as ever to make that happen.”
At SNC, Kavandi also oversees development of technologies to support the Artemis missions to the lunar surface, and the commercialization of low-Earth orbit.
“Janet has made an invaluable contribution to U.S. leadership in space and continues to do so in her current role at SNC, even after her remarkable career at NASA,” SNC Chairwoman, President and owner Eren Ozmen said in a statement.
NNBV People briefs are published on a regular basis and compiled from submissions emailed to the newsroom at editor@nnbw.com. Submissions are published at editorial discretion, and some briefs may publish online only due to print space limitations.
Comments
Use the comment form below to begin a discussion about this content.
Sign in to comment