Leading SMA Through Change

Acting Chief of SMA Nathan Vassberg never set out to be the “safety guy.” He started his aerospace career intending to work with airplanes. Yet early opportunities in SMA opened doors he hadn’t expected, and the work grabbed his interest immediately. That spark and the breadth of SMA work turned into a 35-year career for Vassberg.

“There’s such a broad scope in the work you can do in SMA,” Vassberg said. “Working across hardware systems, understanding what makes spacecraft safe and seeing the big picture of how everything fits together has kept me in SMA for my entire career.”

Vassberg values the opportunity to understand, at a deep level, what makes hardware safe and how thousands of decisions, interfaces and people align to deliver mission success.

"SMA lets you see how things really work. It's the big picture … and the small details."

“SMA lets you see how things really work,” he said. “It’s the big picture … and the small details.”

Vassberg’s experience working on all major human spaceflight programs since the start of his career provides a unique perspective on vehicles, international partnerships and program integration.

Early in his career, he was involved in ground-floor negotiations with Russian partners for the International Space Station, an experience that shaped his understanding of collaboration.

When he worked on commercial cargo and crew programs, including SpaceX Crew Dragon, he learned how to balance innovation with safety. He said his proudest professional accomplishment was the opportunity to be a part of the first crewed flight of a commercial spacecraft under the Commercial Crew Program (CCP). As the Chief Safey Officer for CCP, he led the team responsible for implementing a commercial model that successfully applied a risk-based insight and surveillance approach.

“Watching that effort culminate in a safe and successful flight carrying my friends, Bob [Behnken] and Doug [Hurley], was truly one of the highlights of my career,” he said.

He also had the opportunity to transition from technical work to executive leadership, focusing on people and culture in his role as the deputy director at Johnson Space Center for three years.

In his most recent role as the Moon to Mars (M2M) SMA director since 2024, Vassberg gained insight into large-scale integration and organizational alignment.

Vision for SMA

In a time of rapid transformation across NASA and human spaceflight, Vassberg outlined his vision for SMA: to be a trusted partner with NASA programs and missions. He wants SMA to be viewed as a collaborator that helps programs succeed safely and efficiently, rather than be viewed as a gatekeeper.

“Being a trusted partner means enabling smart, informed risk decisions and providing clear guidance through insight, oversight and surveillance,” Vassberg said. “We need to be careful about how we apply our approach. Not every mission requires the full SMA press.”

He explained that when missions allow for higher risk tolerance, SMA should accelerate the process without compromising risk management.

“A tiered approach to SMA can greatly expand the number of missions we can execute, while keeping crew safety as the top priority for crewed flights,” Vassberg said. “This flexibility allows us to balance speed, innovation and safety in a way that serves the agency’s broader goals.”

Vassberg believes SMA is in a unique position with a new administration.

"We have the opportunity to expand our reach, advance our tools and strengthen our ability to support missions, the agency and the nation — without ever compromising safety as a core value."

“We have the opportunity to expand our reach, advance our tools and strengthen our ability to support missions, the agency and the nation — without ever compromising safety as a core value,” he said.

Equally important, SMA must continue to foster a positive safety culture for the agency.

“We must ensure that all the necessary risk discussions take place and are adjudicated appropriately,” he said. “This means fostering an environment where transparency, accountability and thoughtful risk management are embedded in every decision.”

Vassberg differentiates between big “R” risks: the formal, documented ones; and little “r” risks: the cumulative decisions, interactions and uncertainties that can stack up.

“We need to see both types of risk management,” Vassberg said. “The big ones you track in risk systems, and the little ones you surface through culture, conversation and integration.”

New Initiatives in SMA

Several areas stand out to Vassberg as opportunities for new initiatives within SMA, such as leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI) for risk insight, strengthening supply chain resilience, and revolutionizing SMA policy and standards.

AI for Risk Insight

AI helps SMA prioritize the most critical risks so SMA can make smarter, faster decisions.

“AI’s greatest value lies in helping us quickly spot trends in large, complex datasets and highlighting targeted areas for technical experts to focus their attention,” he said. “As we expand its use, AI will help us tackle challenges that have been difficult to solve with traditional methods — bringing new insights and efficiencies to our processes.”

He emphasized that AI is not a replacement for human judgment; rather, it is a tool that amplifies our ability to think strategically and concentrate on the areas that matter most for SMA and mission success.

“AI tools, such as the Holy Grail tool being developed by the Moon to Mars Program, offer tremendous potential to deepen our understanding of risk posture,” Vassberg said. “By applying advanced analytics and novel AI approaches, we can identify the areas of greatest concern and take targeted actions to drive down mission risk.”

Strengthening Supply Chain Resilience

A robust and resilient supply chain is critical to enabling more frequent missions and ensuring a healthy flow of space hardware.

“We have valuable Supply Chain Risk Management data today, but the next step is transforming that data into actionable strategies,” he said. “This means working closely with existing suppliers and engaging new entrants who are poised to contribute to the growing space economy.”

He said by doing so, we can reduce vulnerabilities, increase flexibility and support the agency’s long-term mission capabilities.

Revolutionizing SMA Policy and Standards

Adopting a risk-based approach to keep pace with rapid change is important as the Office of Safety and Mission Assurance streamlines its policies and standards.

"Mission assurance is about enabling success, not just preventing failure … It’s ensuring that risks are understood and managed so programs can make informed decisions."

“This means quickly updating standards, eliminating requirements that do not meaningfully reduce risk and ensuring policies are practical and effective,” Vassberg said. “By making policies agile and risk-focused, we can improve efficiency without compromising safety.”

Vassberg emphasizes the need to always keep the big picture in mind while managing the most significant risks.

“A crew member once told me that we sometimes look at safety issues through a ‘soda straw,’ narrowly interpreting requirements or applying constrained logic,” he said. “To truly solve problems, we need to step back, understand the intent behind the requirements and use that as our guide.”

A perspective shift often leads to better solutions and stronger collaboration.

“Mission assurance is about enabling success, not just preventing failure … It’s ensuring that risks are understood and managed so programs can make informed decisions,” Vassberg said.