Charlie Blackwell-Thompson serves as launch director for NASA's Exploration Ground Systems Program, based at NASA's John F. Kennedy Space Center in Florida. She led the countdown and liftoff of NASA's Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft during its first flight test, called Artemis I on November 16th, 2022.

Named to the position in January 2016, Charlie is NASA's first female launch director. She also serves as the cross-program lead to the Launch Integration team responsible for integration and coordination of launch operations across the three programs: SLS, Orion and EGS. In her role as launch director, she manages the development of all launch countdown plans, philosophy, and launch and scrub turnaround procedures and schedules, as well as training approaches.

Charlie is the holder of multiple patents related to launch vehicle interface standardization concepts, and command and control methods and systems. She has received numerous awards, including multiple Space Flight Awareness Team Awards, the astronaut's Silver Snoopy for her work on the Hubble Space Telescope, the NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal, the NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal, and the Rotary National Award for Space Achievement Stellar Award.

Blackwell-Thompson is a native of Gaffney, South Carolina, where she graduated from Gaffney High School. She now resides in Merritt Island, Florida, with her husband and three children.