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Srinivasa Reddy Kandi: NASA’s new astronaut class includes SpaceX veterans Anna Menon and Yuri Kubo

September, 24, 2025-04:23

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NASA’s new astronaut class includes SpaceX veterans Anna Menon and Yuri Kubo

SpaceX’s alumni network continues to make its mark on the space industry—this time with two former employees joining NASA’s astronaut ranks.

NASA unveiled its 2025 astronaut class this week, selecting 10 candidates from more than 8,000 applicants. Among them are Anna Menon and Yuri Kubo, both of whom spent over a decade helping to shape SpaceX into a launch powerhouse.

Menon, who began her career at NASA’s Mission Control Center providing biomedical support for astronauts, joined SpaceX in 2018 as a senior engineer. There, she worked on private astronaut missions and later served as a mission specialist and medical officer on Polaris Dawn, the private mission that broke records with the first commercial spacewalk.

Kubo spent 12 years at SpaceX, where she directed Falcon 9 launches and held senior roles managing the Star Shield program and overseeing ground systems operations.

The newly selected astronauts face nearly two years of intensive training before becoming eligible for assignments. NASA said the program includes robotics, geology, medical training, foreign language courses, simulated spacewalks, and flight training. Those who complete the program will join NASA’s roster of more than 40 active astronauts.

This class could play a pivotal role in the agency’s future plans. They may be among the first to support NASA’s transition to commercial space stations after the ISS retires in 2030, and could also be tapped for upcoming science missions to the moon and Mars.

This isn’t the first time SpaceX veterans have made the leap to government astronaut corps. Robb Kulin, the company’s former director of flight reliability, joined NASA’s 2017 class, while Anil Menon—SpaceX’s first flight surgeon and medical director—was selected in 2021 as part of NASA’s Artemis astronaut cohort.

Author: Kandi Srinivasa Reddy, Srinivasa Reddy Kandi, #KandiSrinivasaReddy, #SrinivasaReddyKandi