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COLORADO SPRINGS—With the lease for its Washington headquarters expiring and a Trump administration directive to become more efficient, NASA is considering options to be presented to its new administrator, congressional leaders and the White House, acting Administrator Janet Petro said April 8.
The lease for the agency’s headquarters expires in 2028 so “there’s some decisions that have to be taken . . . in terms of where we want our various functions and organizations to be located,” Petro said at the 40th Space Symposium underway here this week.
The decision is affected by a Trump administration executive order for the agency to examine its organizational structure and facilities to determine if there are more efficient ways to operate by combining or moving functions.
“We’re undergoing that process right now,” Petro said. “We’re looking at what should be left in Washington, what could be moved out into lower-cost areas and what functions might be combined.
“I would envision that the office of the administrator would be in DC, or there would be a footprint for the office of the administrator, along with some key functions like legislative affairs, maybe general counsel and some communications staff. I think that would be beneficial to have that—at a minimum—in DC. Everything else we’re taking a look at and seeing where could those functions be relocated,” Petro said.
Several states have expressed interest in hosting NASA headquarters, or its functions, she noted, adding: “We’re going to come up with some options for consideration.”
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