Note from NASA Deputy Administrator Matt Anderson: NASA Team, Since Ignition, the mission has been clear to us: achieve the President’s National Space Policy and expand American leadership in space.
The success of Artemis II proved we can execute. Now, we need to take that same discipline and drive to one of our most undervalued strategic assets: our data.
We received over 1,400 submissions to the Idea Box and other efficiency channels, all emphasizing that NASA needs a better data infrastructure. Without it, modern data tools, including AI, are almost impossible to use.
I don’t need to remind anyone that sending astronauts around the Moon is hard enough. So, there’s no reason why our internal processes should make it harder. Too often, the same information is duplicated in a dozen places, the same security reviews are re-litigated, and pilots that have proven value are stalled before they ever reach the mission. A program manager assessing supply chain risk, an engineer validating a result against flight data, a Center director reconciling program cost… Today, each of them can wait weeks, sometimes months, for access to data that already exists somewhere inside NASA.
You wrote in, and we heard you…here’s what we’re doing about it.
I am issuing a Directive that treats data, software, and AI as the strategic assets they are. This is not a compliance exercise. Like acquisition, data and AI are mission enablers, and we will manage them accordingly.
The principle is simple: Share First, Build Once.
What is changing:
- The Chief Data and AI Officer (CDAIO) is now NASA’s enterprise authority for data and AI governance.
- The Data and AI Governance Board (DGB), which I will chair and the CDAIO will vice-chair, becomes the agency-level decision body for this work.
- Each Center, Mission Directorate, Mission Support Directorate, and Staff Office will appoint a Senior Data and AI Official to lead governance and accountability within their organization.
- We will stand up an Enterprise Data and AI Platform as the authoritative, search-enabled home for our significant data, software, and mission knowledge – a single source of truth instead of a dozen versions of it.
What this means for you:
By unifying our approach, we adopt a share-by-default posture: data available to appropriate, authenticated NASA users, with CUI, ITAR, and EAR protections enforced at the point of access, not walled off by default and negotiated case by case. The program manager who waits weeks for a data pull will now get it in seconds. The engineer validating against flight data won’t wait for the next status meeting. We will reduce silos, make information easier to find, and prepare our data for the AI-driven innovation that will power our return to the Moon and our path to Mars. We will move faster, with greater confidence in the tools we deploy, and with far less redundant, costly duplication across the agency.
Consistent with everything we are doing to rebuild NASA’s core competencies and steward taxpayer resources, this effort eliminates waste, strengthens accountability, and focuses our investments on the solutions that deliver the greatest value to our workforce and our mission. It is issued in direct fulfillment of the President’s Executive Orders and OMB guidance on AI leadership, eliminating information silos, and driving efficiency.
I encourage you to visit the updated CDAIO, AI @ NASA, and Data @ NASA OneNASA pages, where you will find more information on the Directive overview and timeline.
Winning the second space race will not be decided by outdated and excess bureaucracy. We have the mandate. We have the resources. And we have the talent.
Now we need to organize, move with urgency, and execute on data and AI with the same discipline we bring to every mission.
Honored to serve alongside all of you,
Matt Anderson
NASA Deputy Administrator
