Mark Pond
Senior Director, NASA Programs
Northrop Grumman Space Systems
As Director of NASA Programs, Mark Pond is responsible for the execution and financial performance of Northrop Grumman’s critical NASA programs, including the largest solid rocket motors in the world for use on NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) and the propulsion for the Orion Launch Abort System (LAS).
Mark has been with Northrop Grumman for over 25 years and has held various leadership positions in rocket motor nozzle manufacturing, project and design engineering; space shuttle and Ares nozzle program management. He has also served as team lead for nozzle, mix/cast and final assembly value stream, as manager of the non-destructive testing group, and SLS booster integration program manager. Most of his career has been working on NASA programs, but he also served in the RS-68 nozzle program. His background in several areas and functional roles has given him a broad knowledge of solid rocket design and processing. Mark earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical and aerospace engineering from Utah State University.