Dr. Michael Nayak

Dr. Michael “Orbit” Nayak returned to DARPA as a program manager in May 2024. He was previously a DARPA program manager with the Defense Sciences Office (DSO) and Strategic Technology Office (STO) as a U.S. Air Force officer. At DARPA, he is interested in inventive ways to apply techniques from the disciplines of astrophysics and planetary science to problems in space domain awareness (SDA), space control, and preventing strategic surprise in cislunar space. His research interests include radically innovative solutions to modern optical detection problems, cutting-edge machine-assisted concepts for significantly accelerated pilot and military operator education, and problems facing the rapid proliferation of people and materials on the lunar surface.

Prior to DARPA, Nayak worked as a space shuttle engineer; flight director for multiple experimental spacecraft; a skydiving instructor; a planetary scientist at NASA Ames; research section chief for the DoD’s largest telescope; instructor flight test engineer and instructor pilot. He has flown an X-plane, worked flight test for the prototype T-7A trainer jet, deployed to the South Pole as a U.S. Antarctic Program principal investigator, and was a semi-finalist for the 2021 astronaut class. He is a USAF Test Pilot School graduate, Rotary National Award for Space Achievement recipient, and has 1,000+ hours of flight time in 40+ aircraft including the F-16, T-38, EA500 and BE-76.

He holds a doctorate degree in planetary science from the University of California at Santa Cruz, where he was a National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellow. He holds additional graduate degrees in earth science, aerospace engineering and flight test engineering, and is a published science-fiction author.