Kathleen Karika

Senior Advisor
NASA

Ms. Kathleen Karika is a non-career member of the Senior Executive Service (SES) and the Senior Advisor for the Office of International and Interagency Relations (OIIR) under the Office of the Administrator at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

Ms. Karika joined NASA in 2025, after spending over a decade in the U.S. commercial space industry, where she led international business development teams and engaged across the U.S. government, and with allies and partners, on commercial, civil, and national security space missions. She most recently served as Director of Research Operations at Virgin Galactic, where she managed business development for suborbital microgravity research missions for the U.S. and international governments, academia, and industry.

Prior to joining Virgin Galactic, Ms. Karika oversaw capture activities for significant international government satellite pursuits at both Maxar (now Vantor and Intuitive Machines) and Lockheed Martin. She has also held positions at Avascent, NASA Ames Research Center, and the U.S. House of Representatives Science, Space, and Technology Committee.

Ms. Karika holds a Bachelor of Science in Applied Mathematical Sciences and a Master of International Affairs from Texas A&M University. She served on the Board of Directors for the American Astronautical Society from 2014-2025, where she served terms as the Vice President of International and the Vice President of Education and Young Professionals.

Ms. Karika lives in Alexandria, VA, where she tends to a prolific vegetable and flower garden.

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Related Sessions

Global Space Collaboration Luncheon

Tuesday, April 14, 2026

12:15 pm - 1:45 pm

Track: Meal Event, Symposium Program

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Artemis Accords Brief

Tuesday, April 14, 2026

4:45 pm - 5:00 pm

Track: Symposium Program

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