McCulley previously served as Chief Operating Officer from 1999 to his appointed as CEO, with primary responsibility for overall management of USA operations. Prior to that, he was Vice President and Deputy Program Manager for the Space Flight Operations Contract. 

Prior to that, McCulley served as the Vice President and Associate Program Manager for USA’s Ground Operations at the Kennedy Space Center.  Named to that position in June 1996, he was responsible for directing the integration of all processing activities associated with America’s Space Shuttle program to ensure safe and successful fulfillment of all company contractual commitments to NASA.

A retired U.S. Navy captain and a former NASA astronaut, McCulley piloted the highly successful STS-34 Shuttle mission in October 1989. The crew deployed the Galileo spacecraft on its journey to explore Jupiter.

Following his retirement from NASA and the Navy in October 1990, McCulley was employed by Lockheed Martin Space Operations in October 1990 and served as Vice President and Deputy Launch Site Director at the Kennedy Space Center. He was promoted to director in 1995.

McCulley received his Navy commission in 1970 and following flight training served tours of duty in the A-4 “Skyhawk” and A-6 “Intruder” aircraft. He also served as a Navy test pilot and has logged more than 5,000 hours in more than 50 types of aircraft.

McCulley holds numerous governmental awards and decorations including the NASA Public Service Medal and the Legion of Merit Medal from his Naval service. He also is the recipient of the National Management Associations’ Silver and Gold Knight of Management Awards. In addition, he received the Child Advocate of the Year Award for the state of Florida from the Children’s Home Society, an organization dedicated to services for children and young mothers. 

Active in community affairs, he is Vice Chair of the Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership & serves on their Board of Directors and Executive Committee.  He is on the Executive Board of the Houston Minority Business Council and serves on the Curriculum Advisory Committee for the engineering school at Purdue University.  Mike has also served as chairman of the Board of Trustees for the Clear Lake Regional Medical Center.