Douglas Loverro, associate administrator of NASA's Human Exploration and Operations (HEO) directorate, has stepped down from his role to be replaced by Ken Bowersox on an acting basis, SpaceNews reported Tuesday. Loverro’s resignation took effect last week, according to a statement from NASA obtained by the publication.
NASA’s HEO directorate oversees the Artemis lunar exploration mission slated for 2024. In October, NASA announced that Loverro will succeed Bill Gerstenmaier as HEO head in an effort to meet the Trump administration’s deadline.
NASA also announced plans to reorganize the HEO directorate last month following Loverro's appointment.
Loverro, formerly the deputy assistant secretary for space policy at the Department of Defense (DoD), assumed his role at NASA in December and was previously expected to review key parts of the Artemis program including the Orion spacecraft and Space Launch System.
He was also slated to head a flight readiness assessment for the Demo-2 commercial cargo delivery mission with SpaceX ahead of its launch on May 27, according to the report.