SpaceX Safety VP Quit Late Last Year

News
By
published
Ken Bowersox in the Quest Airlock Aboard the ISS
Astronaut Kenneth D. Bowersox, Expedition Six mission commander, is pictured in the Quest Airlock on the International Space Station (ISS) in 2003. (Image credit: NASA)

WASHINGTON — Ken Bowersox, the former NASA astronaut and space station commander who joined Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) in 2009, has quit the company.

"Ken Bowersox left SpaceX at the end of last year," SpaceX spokeswoman Kirstin Grantham wrote in a Jan. 17 email to Space News. "His responsibilities were split up among a few different people. Hans Koenigsmann was named SpaceX vice president of mission assurance."

Bowersox, who was SpaceX's vice president of astronaut safety and mission assurance, could not immediately be reached for comment.

A Jan. 17 Space News query addressed to Bowersox's SpaceX email account produced an automated reply notifying the sender that "this mailbox is no longer being actively monitored by the user."

This story was provided by Space News, dedicated to covering all aspects of the space industry.

Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: community@space.com.

Dan Leone
Editor, ExchangeMonitor

Dan Leone is an editor and reporter for the ExchangeMonitor Publications covering the Department of Energy and Department of Defense nuclear weapons programs. From 2011 to 2016, Dan was the NASA reporter for the space industry publication SpaceNews, where he covered U.S. space agency policy, news and missions. He also produced the SpaceGeeks podcast showcasing interviews with space industry professionals. Dan earned a bachelor's degree in public communications from American University. You can find his latest project on Twitter at @leone_exm.