Dr. Minh Nguyen was named Deputy Associate Administrator for the FAA’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation (AST) in January 2026. He leads an organization of about 160 employees whose mission is to enable safe commercial space transportation during a time of significant growth and innovation in the industry. AST authorizes licenses for commercial launch and reentry space vehicle operations as well as the operation of spaceports, to protect public health and safety, safeguarding property, and defending the national security and foreign policy interests of the United States.

Dr. Nguyen previously had been Executive Director of Strategic Planning for AST since May 2021, overseeing commercial space policy, regulations, standards, research & development, budget & finance, human capital planning, learning & development, strategic planning, international engagement, and spaceports.

He also had served in various capacities including FAA’s Deputy Director of the FAA’s Office of Policy and Plans, Acting Deputy Regional Administrator for the Northwest Region, Division Manager for the Office of Business Case Integration and Modeling, member of the Administrator’s Strategic Initiatives Group, Program Manager for the Office of Advanced Technology Development, and chief of staff for the Senior Vice President of NextGen and Operations Planning.

Prior to joining the FAA, he worked at the MITRE Corporation, Veracity Engineering, Argon ST, and Naval Research Laboratory, leading advanced research programs.

He obtained his undergraduate, graduate, and doctorate degrees in Electrical Engineering from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech).