Gregory Heckler

Greg Heckler is Program Executive for Commercialization at NASA’s Space Communication and Navigation Program (SCaN) and oversees the transition of NASA’s near-Earth missions to commercially provided communication and navigation services. Greg is also responsible for coordinating development and integration of NASA’s lunar infrastructure that’ll support Artemis astronauts’ safety and success on the Moon and beyond.

Prior to his position at NASA Headquarters, Greg was a telecommunications systems engineer at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. He spent 6 years supporting the Tracking Data Relay Satellite Project (TDRS) as Deputy Telecommunication Systems Manager and Payload Manager, contributing to the construction, launch, and operational deployment of three TDRS satellites.

Throughout his career Greg has supported SCaN projects including the Space Network Ground System Sustainment Project, McMurdo TDRS Relay System, the SCaN Testbed, space relay architecture studies, and technology development activities. Greg started his NASA career in 2006 working on the Navigator spaceflight GPS receiver, helping to achieve the receiver’s first spaceflight in 2009 on STS-125 prior to its operational use on the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) and Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) missions. He holds a Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degree in aerospace engineering from Purdue University.