Liftoff!

The summer after graduating from Illinois Tech, Jason Tenenbaum joined Lockheed Martin Mission Services as a systems engineer. He worked there for three years before joining SpaceX, where he gained experience in many different areas. He began as team lead developing the space suit for use on the Dragon spacecraft, then was lead crew operations engineer for Dragon missions to the International Space Station. Tenenbaum was then named manager of space operations development before becoming Dragon mission director. Since November 2018 Tenenbaum has served in his current position of senior manager for space operations development. 

“It’s a huge challenge to develop a brand new spacecraft, complete all of the rigorous testing and analysis required by NASA, and then not only fly it to the space station but also return it back to Earth,” says Tenenbaum. “The team at SpaceX that made this a reality is a phenomenal group of people, and I feel really lucky to be a part of it.”