Former NASA Chief Economist is New Head of Canadian Space Agency

Alexander MacDonald is the new President of the Canadian Space Agency. Canadian-born MacDonald was NASA’s Chief Economist until December 2024.

The Canadian Government announced MacDonald’s selection this evening. He succeeds Lisa Campbell, who had held the position since 2020. Her five-year term was extended by one year.

A dual Canadian-U.S. citizen born in Canada, MacDonald was NASA’s first Chief Economist after serving in several other positions at the agency. As Chief Economist, he was part of NASA’s Office of Technology, Policy, and Strategy, which was eliminated by DOGE last year although MacDonald left the agency a few months earlier. He also served as NASA’s program executive for the International Space Station National Laboratory, ISSNL.

MacDonald joined the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) as a non-resident Senior Associate after leaving NASA, and also was a Distinguished Professor of Practice at Arizona State University according to his LinkedIn profile.

In May, Canada’s SpaceQ Media reported that MacDonald was a potential candidate to replace Campbell and was recommending that Canada pivot away from building Canadarm3 following NASA’s decision to pause the Gateway lunar space station and focus on lunar surface robotics instead.

In a statement today, Mélanie Joly, Minister of Industry and Minister responsible for Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions, said MacDonald’s “deep expertise in space policy and economics, and a strong understanding that space is crucial to our national and economic security” makes him “perfectly suited” to lead the Canadian Space Agency.

MacDonald holds degrees from Queen’s University, the University of British Columbia, and the University of Oxford.  He’s the author of “The Long Space Age: The Economic Origins of Space Exploration from Colonial America to the Cold War,” and “The Spaceflight Narrative: A Literary History of Leaving Earth.”

He starts his new position on November 16.