MSFC Director Singer: Delivering Our Mission is Biggest Challenge

Marshall Space Flight Director Jody Singer said Tuesday the the biggest challenge she has faced from Washington couldn’t be answered with one item.

“I would have been I would say … delivering on our mission. Delivering on our mission is a critical challenge,” Singer said during her update at the Space & Missile Defense Symposium at the Von Braun Center. The event continues today through Thursday. “We have to do that despite all the things that are going on. As a part of that, a second thing that is nothing really replaces taking care of our people and our team, and that type of working together keeps us integrated. And since I’m up here I get to say I’ve got a third thing to me is the budget. We have the people, we have a mission, we have positive attitudes, but we do need the budget that can help support the missions.

“To me all three of those are really key elements and the support so again, getting the support for it and making sure that I enable our future.”

Singer was one of a dozen top defense and military officials scheduled to speak in person or virtually at the event held at the VBC. This year’s symposium theme is “Space and Integrated Air and Missile Defense in a New Era.” Dozens of companies large and small will exhibit from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. today through midday Thursday. The event is spearheaded by the Huntsville Association of Small Businesses in Advanced Technology.

Singer’s session was well attended, and there was a buzz in the expo hall and Technology Track briefings. The symposium is billed as “the leading educational, professional development and networking event in the space and missile defense community. It is widely attended by leaders and professionals from the United States and our allies around the world.” 

Singer touched on the partnerships Marshall has with the Kennedy, Stennis and Johnson space centers, Redstone Arsenal and others. Without them, she said, it would be much tougher to achieve critical aspects of projects from the big items seen by the public to smaller unseen ones. Foremost is the Artemis project powered by the massive Space Launch System to return to the moon by 2025 and explore beyond. Boeing, Aerojet Rocketdyne and United Launch Alliance are working with Marshall and its other partners on the project.

“Our area reaps the benefits of all of this work,” Singer said. “When I think Marshall Space Flight Center I’m very proud to say that it’s not only about space that we’re working on, and it also benefits our home community as well as the nation. For instance, over 43,000 jobs with an $8.3 billion economic impact is really good.

“And that’s pretty darn good for such a small organization that has half a percentage of the nation’s budget.”

Singer said on an average day with more than 7,000 professionals, civil servants and contractors working (on site) or working remotely, “as our administrator says, for a little bitty organization we’re sure doing a lot of work. … And you can’t stress the importance of our Redstone partners.”

In regard to the Space Launch System, Singer again noted the partnerships and impact the massive project is creating nationwide. The SLS vehicle and Artemis program will first send uncrewed spacecraft and, eventually, astronaut-crewed craft to and from destinations farther than the moon, Mars and new parts of the solar system. Crewed moon landings and deep space exploration will happen for the first time since 1972, she said.

“We are a nationwide team, you know, and this is truly a national vehicle,” Singer said. “You can see … 45 states, and we have an economic benefit over $500 billion. So, it’s truly a national vehicle that helps over 1,100 suppliers and over 45 states.

“Again, it’s the engagement with industry is the strengthening of technology, the manufacturing techniques, the things that we’re doing for and in space.”

Singer said as the Marshall team and partners continue “setting the stage for a new era of space exploration and partnerships,” enthusiasm has to be tempered at times. Successful demonstrations and tests definitely are worth celebrating but long-term success and consistency are most critical.

“We’re also looking to see how we can continue to be able to go further with sustained mission activity,” she said. “That is going to be critical, to have that sustained technology. The technology that you do for a demonstration is probably not the same technology identical to what you have for sustaining missions. So that’s why we’re continuing to work and grow and keep going.

“As we go forward, we know that we’ll learn a lot, we know that it will be important that we have sustained access to space, having a sustainable system, a sustained rocket, and having a capability to fly down on those, and then be able to deliver … the systems to work and play and live and discover in space.”

The SMD Symposium is sponsored by Dynetics, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon Technologies, BAE Systems, SAIC, Deloitte, Blue Halo, Eprius, Noblis and CACI. Attendees must register and be approved.

SMD Executive Committee requires all individuals to wear a mask to enter and attend at the 2021 SMD Symposium, regardless of vaccination status. Masks must be worn for the duration of the symposium, unless you are eating, drinking or speaking on stage at the podium.