Axiom Space hires NASA, BWXT vet as CEO

Axiom Space, a commercial space station developer whose design is in the running to replace the International Space Station, has hired a chief executive almost six months after appointing the prior CEO.

Dr. Jonathan Cirtain joined Axiom on Monday to lead the next phase of its strategy for space infrastructure development and pursuit of the ISS replacement effort, the company said Wednesday. Cirtain succeeds Tejpaul Bhatia, who started as CEO in April and first joined in 2021 as chief revenue officer.

Prior to Axiom, Cirtain held senior roles at BWXT Technologies and led scientific teams at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. He also is a co-founder of Astraea, a machine learning and data science analytics company focused on Earth observation technologies.

Axiom, Blue Origin and Voyager Technologies each hold Space Act Agreements with NASA to further iterate their ISS replacement designs. Axiom itself is planning to launch the first module for its station in 2028.

Houston-headquartered Axiom has recorded $156.2 million in unclassified prime revenue over the trailing 12 months with all of it from NASA, according to USASpending.gov data.

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