NASA International Space Station Deputy Director Robyn Gatens answers questions during a briefing where NASA announced the agency’s five-part plan to open the International Space Station to expanded commercial and marketing activities and private astronaut missions to the station and enable additional commercial destinations in low-Earth orbit, Friday, June 7, 2019 at the Nasdaq MarketSite in New York City. NASA will continue to maintain human presence and research in low-Earth orbit, and the long-term goal is to achieve a robust economy from which NASA can purchase services at a lower cost. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Robyn Gatens, Deputy Director of NASA’s International Space Station Program, during a discussion titled “ISS-Moon-Mars: Using Spaceflight Platforms to Study and Simulate Future Missions” during the 70th International Astronautical Congress, Monday, Oct. 21, 2019 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

Robyn Gatens, director of International Space Station and acting director of the Commercial Space Flight Division of NASA's Space Operations Mission Directorate, answers a question during a panel discussion at the Embassy of Slovenia alongside NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore, Don Pettit, Suni Williams, and Nick Hague, Lee Echerd,, senior mission manager and commercial crew program lead at SpaceX, and Marko Novak, advisor of management board at Dewesoft Slovenia, Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025, in Washington. Hague, Wilmore, Williams, and Pettit served as part of Expedition 72 onboard the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

Lee Echerd, senior mission manager and commercial crew program lead at SpaceX, right, answers a question during a panel discussion at the Embassy of Slovenia with Robyn Gatens, director of International Space Station and acting director of the Commercial Space Flight Division of NASA's Space Operations Mission Directorate, left, and NASA astronauts Don Pettit, Suni Williams, Butch Wilmore, and Nick Hague, and Marko Novak, advisor of management board at Dewesoft Slovenia, Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025, in Washington. Hague, Wilmore, Williams, and Pettit served as part of Expedition 72 onboard the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

Robyn Gatens, director of NASA’s International Space Station Division, speaks to members of the media prior to the launch of a Northrop Grumman Antares rocket carrying a Cygnus resupply spacecraft, Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2021, at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Northrop Grumman’s 16th contracted cargo resupply mission for NASA launched at 6:01 p.m. EDT and will deliver nearly 8,200 pounds of science and research, crew supplies and vehicle hardware to the International Space Station and its crew. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

NASA Associate Administrator for the Human Exploration and Operations Directorate William Gerstenmaier, left, NASA Chief Financial Officer Jeff DeWit, center, and NASA International Space Station Deputy Director Robyn Gatens announce the agency’s five-part plan to open the International Space Station to expanded commercial and marketing activities and private astronaut missions to the station and enable additional commercial destinations in low-Earth orbit, Friday, June 7, 2019 at the Nasdaq MarketSite in New York City. NASA will continue to maintain human presence and research in low-Earth orbit, and the long-term goal is to achieve a robust economy from which NASA can purchase services at a lower cost. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Sandra Connelly, deputy associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, left, Lori Glaze, acting deputy associate administrator for NASA’s Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate, Robyn Gatens, director of the International Space Station at NASA Headquarters, and Carrie Olsen, manager of the Next Gen STEM project for NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement, discuss key takeaways at the conclusion of NASA’s LEO Microgravity Strategy Industry and Academia Workshop, Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, at Convene in Washington. NASA’s LEO Microgravity Strategy effort aims to develop and document an objectives-based approach toward the next generation of human presence in low Earth orbit to advance microgravity science, technology, and exploration. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

NASA Public Affairs Officer Stephanie Schierholz, standing left, moderates a media briefing with NASA Chief Financial Officer Jeff DeWit, left, NASA International Space Station Deputy Director Robyn Gatens, center, and NASA Associate Administrator for the Human Exploration and Operations Directorate William Gerstenmaier where they announced the agency’s five-part plan to open the International Space Station to expanded commercial and marketing activities and private astronaut missions to the station and enable additional commercial destinations in low-Earth orbit, Friday, June 7, 2019 at the Nasdaq MarketSite in New York City. NASA will continue to maintain human presence and research in low-Earth orbit, and the long-term goal is to achieve a robust economy from which NASA can purchase services at a lower cost. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Meghan Allen, senior vice president for strategic engagements at Space Foundation, left, moderates a panel discussion at the Embassy of Slovenia with Marko Novak, advisor of management board at Dewesoft Slovenia, NASA astronauts Suni Williams, Nick Hague, Don Pettit, and Butch Wilmore, Robyn Gatens, director of International Space Station and acting director of the Commercial Space Flight Division of NASA's Space Operations Mission Directorate, and Lee Echerd, senior mission manager and commercial crew program lead at SpaceX, Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025, in Washington. Hague, Wilmore, Williams, and Pettit served as part of Expedition 72 onboard the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

Iztok Mirošič, Ambassador of the Republic of Slovenia to the United States, provides closing remarks during a panel discussion with Marko Novak, advisor of management board Dewesoft Slovenia, NASA astronauts Suni Williams, Butch Wilmore, Nick Hague, and Don Pettit, Robyn Gatens, director of International Space Station and acting director of the Commercial Space Flight Division of NASA's Space Operations Mission Directorate, and Lee Echerd, senior mission manager and commercial crew program lead at SpaceX, at the Embassy of Slovenia, Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025, in Washington. Hague, Wilmore, Williams, and Pettit served as part of Expedition 72 onboard the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

Amber Jacobson, press secretary to NASA’s Deputy Administrator, left, moderates a discussion of key takeaways with Sandra Connelly, deputy associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, second from left, Lori Glaze, acting deputy associate administrator for NASA’s Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate, Robyn Gatens, director of the International Space Station at NASA Headquarters, and Carrie Olsen, manager of the Next Gen STEM project for NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement, at the conclusion of NASA’s LEO Microgravity Strategy Industry and Academia Workshop, Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, at Convene in Washington. NASA’s LEO Microgravity Strategy effort aims to develop and document an objectives-based approach toward the next generation of human presence in low Earth orbit to advance microgravity science, technology, and exploration. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

NASA Deputy Associate Administrator Casey Swails, left, acting NASA Associate Administrator Vanessa Wyche, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, acting NASA Administrator Janet Petro, NASA Associate Administrator for the Space Operations Mission Directorate Ken Bowersox, and NASA Director of the International Space Station and acting director of the Commercial Spaceflight Division, Robyn Gatens, react as they watch the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft splash down with NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore, Suni Williams, Nick Hague, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, Tuesday, March 18, 2025, from the Space Operations Center at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters Building in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

NASA Director of the International Space Station, Robyn Gatens, provides opening remarks at an employee engagement event where NASA astronauts Stephen Bowen, Warren Hoburg, and Frank Rubio, and UAE (United Arab Emirates) astronaut Sultan Alneyadi spoke about their time aboard the International Space Station as part of Expedition 69, Tuesday, March 19, 2024, at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building in Washington. Bowen, Hoburg, and Alneyadi spent 186 days aboard the International Space Station as part of Expedition 69; while Rubio set a new record for the longest single spaceflight by a U.S. astronaut, spending 371 days in orbit on an extended mission spanning Expeditions 68 and 69. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

Robyn Gatens, director of NASA’s International Space Station Division, left, Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, second from left, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, second from right, and Bob Cabana, NASA associate administrator, right, speak to members of the media prior to the launch of a Northrop Grumman Antares rocket carrying a Cygnus resupply spacecraft, Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2021, at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Northrop Grumman’s 16th contracted cargo resupply mission for NASA launched at 6:01 p.m. EDT and will deliver nearly 8,200 pounds of science and research, crew supplies and vehicle hardware to the International Space Station and its crew. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

Robyn Gatens, left, deputy director, ISS Division and system capability leader for Environmental Control and Life Support Systems (ECLSS) at NASA Headquarters in Washington, tours laboratories in the Space Station Processing Facility at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, on June 13, 2018. Standing behind her is Ralph Fritsche, long-duration food production project manager at Kennedy. Gatens is viewing plant growth chambers and seeing firsthand some of the capabilities in the center's Exploration Research and Technology Programs.

Robyn Gatens, left, deputy director, ISS Division and system capability leader for Environmental Control and Life Support Systems (ECLSS) at NASA Headquarters in Washington, tours laboratories in the Space Station Processing Facility at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, on June 13, 2018. To her right is Molly Anderson, deputy ECLSS capability lead at Johnson Space Center in Houston. They are viewing plant growth chambers and seeing firsthand some of the capabilities in the center's Exploration Research and Technology Programs.

Inside a laboratory in the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Dr. Luke Roberson, right, principal investigator for research and development in Swamp Works, explains the algae bio reactor to Robyn Gatens, center, deputy director, ISS Division and system capability leader for Environmental Control and Life Support Systems (ECLSS) at NASA Headquarters in Washington, on June 13, 2018. At far left is Molly Anderson, deputy ECLSS capability lead at Johnson Space Center in Houston. They are seeing firsthand some of the capabilities in the center's Exploration Research and Technology Programs.

Robyn Gatens, director, NASA’s International Space Station Program, and acting director, NASA’s Commercial Spaceflight Division, participates in an International Space Station 101 Panel Livestream inside the John Holliman Auditorium of the News Center at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Friday, Sept. 27, 2024, ahead of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission to the International Space Station. Liftoff of the ninth crew rotation mission with SpaceX to the space station as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program is targeted for 1:17 p.m. EDT Sept. 28, 2024, from Space Launch Complex-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore, answers a question during a panel discussion at the Embassy of Slovenia alongside fellow NASA astronauts Don Pettit, Suni Williams, and Nick Hague, Robyn Gatens, director of International Space Station and acting director of the Commercial Space Flight Division of NASA's Space Operations Mission Directorate, Lee Echerd,, senior mission manager and commercial crew program lead at SpaceX, and Marko Novak, advisor of management board at Dewesoft Slovenia, Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025, in Washington. Hague, Wilmore, Williams, and Pettit served as part of Expedition 72 onboard the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore, answers a question during a panel discussion at the Embassy of Slovenia alongside fellow NASA astronauts Don Pettit, Suni Williams, and Nick Hague, Robyn Gatens, director of International Space Station and acting director of the Commercial Space Flight Division of NASA's Space Operations Mission Directorate, Lee Echerd,, senior mission manager and commercial crew program lead at SpaceX, and Marko Novak, advisor of management board at Dewesoft Slovenia, Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025, in Washington. Hague, Wilmore, Williams, and Pettit served as part of Expedition 72 onboard the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

Meghan Allen, senior vice president for strategic engagements at Space Foundation, moderates a panel discussion at the Embassy of Slovenia with NASA astronauts Suni Williams, Butch Wilmore, Nick Hague, and Don Pettit, Robyn Gatens, director of International Space Station and acting director of the Commercial Space Flight Division of NASA's Space Operations Mission Directorate, Marko Novak, advisor of management board Dewesoft Slovenia, and Lee Echerd, senior mission manager and commercial crew program lead at SpaceX, Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025, in Washington. Hague, Wilmore, Williams, and Pettit served as part of Expedition 72 onboard the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

NASA astronaut Suni Williams, answers a question during a panel discussion at the Embassy of Slovenia alongside fellow NASA astronauts Don Pettit, Suni Williams, and Nick Hague, Robyn Gatens, director of International Space Station and acting director of the Commercial Space Flight Division of NASA's Space Operations Mission Directorate, Lee Echerd,, senior mission manager and commercial crew program lead at SpaceX, and Marko Novak, advisor of management board at Dewesoft Slovenia, Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025, in Washington. Hague, Wilmore, Williams, and Pettit served as part of Expedition 72 onboard the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

Marko Novak, advisor of management board at Dewesoft Slovenia, answers a question during a panel discussion at the Embassy of Slovenia with NASA astronauts Suni Williams, Don Pettit, Butch Wilmore, and Nick Hague, Robyn Gatens, director of International Space Station and acting director of the Commercial Space Flight Division of NASA's Space Operations Mission Directorate, and Lee Echerd, senior mission manager and commercial crew program lead at SpaceX, Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025, in Washington. Hague, Wilmore, Williams, and Pettit served as part of Expedition 72 onboard the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

Iztok Mirošič, Ambassador of the Republic of Slovenia to the United States, provides opening remarks during a panel discussion with NASA astronauts Suni Williams, Butch Wilmore, Nick Hague, and Don Pettit, Robyn Gatens, director of International Space Station and acting director of the Commercial Space Flight Division of NASA's Space Operations Mission Directorate, Marko Novak, advisor of management board Dewesoft Slovenia, and Lee Echerd, senior mission manager and commercial crew program lead at SpaceX, at the Embassy of Slovenia, Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025, in Washington. Hague, Wilmore, Williams, and Pettit served as part of Expedition 72 onboard the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

Iztok Mirošič, Ambassador of the Republic of Slovenia to the United States, provides opening remarks during a panel discussion with NASA astronauts Suni Williams, Butch Wilmore, Nick Hague, and Don Pettit, Robyn Gatens, director of International Space Station and acting director of the Commercial Space Flight Division of NASA's Space Operations Mission Directorate, Marko Novak, advisor of management board Dewesoft Slovenia, and Lee Echerd, senior mission manager and commercial crew program lead at SpaceX, at the Embassy of Slovenia, Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025, in Washington. Hague, Wilmore, Williams, and Pettit served as part of Expedition 72 onboard the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

NASA astronaut Nick Hague, answers a question during a panel discussion at the Embassy of Slovenia with fellow NASA astronauts Don Pettit, Suni Williams, and Nick Hague, Robyn Gatens, director of International Space Station and acting director of the Commercial Space Flight Division of NASA's Space Operations Mission Directorate, Lee Echerd,, senior mission manager and commercial crew program lead at SpaceX, and Marko Novak, advisor of management board at Dewesoft Slovenia, Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025, in Washington. Hague, Wilmore, Williams, and Pettit served as part of Expedition 72 onboard the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

NASA astronaut Don Pettit, second from right, answers a question alongside fellow NASA astronauts Suni Williams, left, Nick Hague and Butch Wilmore during a panel discussion at the Embassy of Slovenia along with Robyn Gatens, director of International Space Station and acting director of the Commercial Space Flight Division of NASA's Space Operations Mission Directorate, Lee Echerd,, senior mission manager and commercial crew program lead at SpaceX, and Marko Novak, advisor of management board at Dewesoft Slovenia, Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025, in Washington. Hague, Wilmore, Williams, and Pettit served as part of Expedition 72 onboard the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

NASA leaders participate in an International Space Station 101 Panel Livestream inside the John Holliman Auditorium of the News Center at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Friday, Sept. 27, 2024, ahead of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission to the International Space Station. Participants, from left to right, are Megan Cruz, NASA Communications; NASA Associate Administrator Jim Free; Robyn Gatens, director, NASA’s International Space Station Program, and acting director, NASA’s Commercial Spaceflight Division; Jennifer Buchli, chief scientist, NASA’s International Space Station Program; and John Posey, Dragon engineer, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. Liftoff of the ninth crew rotation mission with SpaceX to the space station as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program is targeted for 1:17 p.m. EDT Sept. 28, 2024, from Space Launch Complex-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

NASA's Director of the International Space Station and Commercial Spaceflight Divisions, Robyn Gates, views hardware used in microgravity at the Microgravity Science Summit at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, Monday, Dec. 13, 2024 in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)