Goddard Astronautics Award Open for Nominations 1 June 2025 – 1 September 2025

Award Recipients

2024

• Dr Michael Hawes
  Awarded

  Award: 2024 AIAA Goddard Astronautics Award

  AIAA Citation: For a lifetime of contributions to the design, manufacturing, and operations of human space flight programs including the Space Shuttle, International Space Station, and Orion.

2023

• Charles Atkinson
  NASA/Northrop Grumman

  Awarded

  Award: 2023 AIAA Goddard Astronautics Award

  AIAA Citation: For delivering groundbreaking engineering performance for the James Webb Space Telescope, to advance the study of every phase of cosmic history.
• Mr Lee Feinberg
  NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

  Awarded

  Award: 2023 AIAA Goddard Astronautics Award

  AIAA Citation: For delivering groundbreaking engineering performance for the James Webb Space Telescope, to advance the study of every phase of cosmic history.
• Ms Jennifer Love-Pruitt
  Northrop Grumman

  Awarded

  Award: 2023 AIAA Goddard Astronautics Award

  AIAA Citation: For delivering groundbreaking engineering performance for the James Webb Space Telescope, to advance the study of every phase of cosmic history.
• Mr Michael T Menzel
  Awarded

  Award: 2023 AIAA Goddard Astronautics Award

  AIAA Citation: For delivering groundbreaking engineering performance for the James Webb Space Telescope, to advance the study of every phase of cosmic history.

2022

• Dr Kyle T Alfriend
  Texas A&M University (career opp)

  Awarded

  Award: 2022 AIAA Goddard Astronautics Award

  AIAA Citation: “For extraordinary contributions and advancements in the fields of orbital mechanics and space situational awareness.”

2021

• GEN Ellen M Pawlikowski
  Retired

  Awarded

  Award: 2021 AIAA Goddard Astronautics Award

  AIAA Citation: “For outstanding and notable contributions to the U.S. Air Force, the field of astronautics, and the aerospace and defense community.”

2020

• Mr Robert D Cabana
  NASA Kennedy Space Center

  Awarded

  Award: 2020 Goddard Astronautics Award

  AIAA Citation: For significant leadership and reinvention of the Kennedy Space Center into the world’s preeminent multiuser spaceport supporting government and commercial access to space

2019

• Dr John L Junkins
  Texas A&M University

  Awarded

  Award: For advances in aerospace research and education, for creating an institute for promoting scientific excellence, and for enabling contributions in spacecraft navigation, dynamics, and control

  AIAA Citation: For advances in aerospace research and education, for creating an institute for promoting scientific excellence, and for enabling contributions in spacecraft navigation, dynamics, and control

2018

• Ms. Gwynne E Shotwell
  Space Exploration Technologies Corporation

  Awarded

  Award: “For extraordinary leadership and vision in the field of space exploration and groundbreaking contributions to aerospace technology”

  AIAA Citation: “For extraordinary leadership and vision in the field of space exploration and groundbreaking contributions to aerospace technology”

2017

• William H Gerstenmaier
  NASA

  Awarded

  AIAA Citation: For leadership of America’s space flight program, commitment to international space cooperation, and inspiration of a new generation of space explorers.

2016

• Dr Wanda M Austin
  Awarded

  AIAA Citation: For extraordinary leadership, vision, inspiration, and contributions to the nation’s space programs.

2015

• Prof Jean-Jacques Dordain
  European Space Agency

  Awarded

  AIAA Citation: For outstanding vision and leadership in space exploration particularly during the past eleven years as Director General of the European Space Agency.

2014

• Dr Glynn S Lunney
  Awarded

  AIAA Citation: “For over 50 years of outstanding contributions to America’s manned space program from Project Mercury to the Space Shuttle and Space Station.”

2013

• Dr William F Ballhaus
  Aerospace Corp

  Awarded

  AIAA Citation: For significant leadership in the advancement of the nation's launch and space programs.

2012

• David W Thompson
  Orbital ATK

  Awarded

  AIAA Citation: For 3 decades of contributions and innovations leading to expansion of knowledge of the earth and space to improve nation’s security and to enable success in commercial space.

2011

• Dr Edward C Stone
  California Institute of Technology

  Awarded

  AIAA Citation: “For inspiring leadership in education, space exploration, and space science over an innovative career, especially with the Voyager and Advanced Composition Explorer missions.”

2010

• Mr. Peter B Teets
  Awarded

  AIAA Citation: For four decades of contributions to manned and unmanned access to space and significant contributions to the world’s aerospace community.

2009

• Lt Gen Michael A Hamel
  Independent Consultant

  Awarded

  AIAA Citation: For exemplary leadership, pioneering vision, and outstanding service in advancing the field of aeronautics and national security space.

2008

• Dr Charles Elachi
  Awarded

  AIAA Citation: For outstanding engineering and scientific contributions to synthetic aperture radar technology and extraordinary leadership in American space science.

2007

• Dr Michael D Griffin
  Schafer Corporation

  Awarded

  AIAA Citation: For notable achievements in the field of astronautics, especially technical contributions to space vehicle design and leadership in national and international space programs.

2006

• Dr Bradford W Parkinson
  Awarded

  AIAA Citation: For outstanding leadership in the development of the Global Positioning System, which has had an extraordinary impact on the world’s population.

2005

• John R Casani
  Awarded

  AIAA Citation: For decades of decisive technical and managerial leadership of major projects that have greatly enhanced our knowledge of the solar system.

2004

• HON Edward C Aldridge
  Awarded

  AIAA Citation: For four decades of extraordinary achievement managing military and civil space projects, overseeing military acquisition, and leading AIAA and its charitable foundation

2003

• Mr. George W Jeffs
  Rockwell Int'l Corp

  Awarded

  AIAA Citation: For skilled leadership and engineering prowess as one of the chief architects of America’s space achievements, including the Apollo Command and Service Modules, Space Shuttle, NAVSTAR, and Strategic Defense programs

2002

• Mr. A. Thomas Young
  Office of the Under Secretary of Defense

  Awarded

  AIAA Citation: In recognition of a career of outstanding leadership in aerospace and for his dedication to the preservation of scientific contribution the exploration of space

2001

• Dr Ivan A Getting
  Awarded

  AIAA Citation: For a lifetime of contributions to the nation’s national security and space programs, and for leadership in founding and guiding The Aerospace Corporation during its first seventeen years.”

1999

• Peter G Wilhelm
  Awarded

  AIAA Citation: For extraordinary engineering astute leadership, and zealous dedication to excellence in responding to the needs and advancing the technology of the United States Space Program

1998

• Mr. Jimmie D Hill
  Awarded

  AIAA Citation: For outstanding leadership resulting in the successful design, development, acquisition, and operation of classified space systems of the highest importance to the security of this nation

1997

• Dr Albert D Wheelon
  Awarded

  AIAA Citation: For unique technical contributions to and management-leadership of the nation’s intelligence and civilian space programs

1996

• Mr. Aaron Cohen
  Texas A&M Univ

  Awarded

  AIAA Citation: For exceptional leadership in the advancement of the United States Space Program; for significant contributions to the manned space flight program, and for notable achievements in the field of astronautics

1995

• Dr Lew Allen Jr.
  Awarded

  AIAA Citation: For distinguished contributions to the nation’s advancement in space and aeronautics, by public service in national defense and by leadership of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory

1994

• Dr Joseph H Rothenberg
  Awarded

  AIAA Citation: For leadership of the Hubble Space Telescope’s First Servicing Mission, which restored the Hubble Space Telescope to its full operational and scientific capability

1993

• Dr Malcolm R Currie
  Hughes Aircraft Company

  Awarded

  AIAA Citation: For exemplary contributions to the advancement of astronautics through pioneering work in critical technologies and through distinguished public service and industrial leadership of advancements which transformed astronautics for the benefit of mankind

1992

• Mr. James W Plummer
  Awarded

  AIAA Citation: For sustained contributions to space technology and to innovative national security space systems

1991

• Dr Eberhardt Rechtin
  Awarded

  AIAA Citation: For sustained excellence inconception, systems architecture, engineering and management systems for scientific and national security programs

1990

• Mr. Richard Hugo Truly Jr.
  Awarded

  AIAA Citation: For extraordinary leadership in the recertification of the nation's space transportation system and for substantiating, before the highest levels of government, the goal of human exploration of nearby solar-system bodies in the decades ahead

1989

• Dr Alan M Lovelace
  Awarded

  AIAA Citation: For outstanding contributions to the field of aerospace technology and, in particular, for his leadership government and industry in helping the United States achieve assured access to space through government and commercial launch services

1988

• Mr. Norman R Augustine
  Awarded

  AIAA Citation: For outstanding contributions to aeronautics and astronautics technology, and for leadership in military aerospace programs

1987

• Dr John L McLucas
  Awarded

  AIAA Citation: For outstanding contributions to the American aerospace effort and to international aerospace cooperation

1986

• Dr George E Solomon
  Awarded

  AIAA Citation: For outstanding contributions to aeronautics and astronautics programs and reentry systems development

1985

• Dr Frederic C Oder
  Awarded

  AIAA Citation: For contributions over three decades to the pioneering development and successful operation of over 200 civil and military satellite systems

1984

• Krafft Ehricke
  Awarded

  AIAA Citation: For more than forty years of practical and visionary contributions to astronautics

1983

• Dr George E Mueller
  Kistler Aerospace Corporation

  Awarded

  AIAA Citation: For outstanding contributions to, and personal leadership of, the U.S. manned space program, starting with the flight of Gemini and continuing through to the Apollo Moon landing and the establishment of a reusable Space Transportation System

1982

• Mr. John F Yardley
  Awarded

  AIAA Citation: In recognition of significant contributions to the development of the Space Shuttle and its successful and historic first mission

1981

• Peter T Burr
  Awarded-CoRecipients

  AIAA Citation: For significant contributions to the successful development and operation of NASA''s Solar Maximum Mission and for the scientific achievement made possible through the most comprehensive studies of solar flares ever conducted.
• Kenneth J Frost
  Awarded-CoRecipients

  AIAA Citation: For significant contributions to the successful development and operation of NASA''s Solar Maximum Mission and for the scientific achievement made possible through the most comprehensive studies of solar flares ever conducted.

1980

• Mr. Robert J Parks
  Awarded

  AIAA Citation: For outstanding achievements and inspired leadership in his direction at JPL of flight projects from Mariner 2 to Voyager

1979

• Dr Maxime A Faget
  Awarded

  AIAA Citation: For outstanding contribution to the design and development of manned spaceflight from Mercury to Apollo, to the Space Shuttle Transportation System, and for his exceptional abilities and enduring leadership that has advanced this Nation''s supremacy in space.

1978

• Dr Joseph V Charyk
  Awarded

  AIAA Citation: For outstanding contributions to the development of satellite communications systems, and his leadership in their operational application to international, domestic, and maritime service

1977

• James S. Martin
  Awarded

  AIAA Citation: For brilliant leadership of the Viking Project to land an instrumented, automated spacecraft on the planet Mars; his direction, and personification, of a powerful and dedicated team from government, universities and industry in achieving the first comprehensive on-site investigation to the atmosphere and surface characteristics of Mars, and for the successful accomplishment of one of the great steps in the history of astronautics, in keeping with the Robert H Goddard pioneering tradition.

1975

• Dr Edward W Price
  Awarded

  AIAA Citation: For original contributions and leadership in the development of solid rocket propulsion with emphasis on combustion technology
• Gordon Holbrook
  Awarded-CoRecipients

  Award: -

  AIAA Citation: For joint leadership and technical contributions in pioneering the development and production of widely-used turbopropeller propulsion systems
• Mr. George Rosen
  Awarded-CoRecipients

  Award: -

  AIAA Citation: For joint leadership and technical contributions in pioneering the development and production of widely-used turbopropeller propulsion systems

1974

• Paul D Castenholz
  Awarded

  AIAA Citation: For significant contributions to the development of practical Lox-Hydrogen rocket engines which have played an essential role in the nation''s space program and in the advancement of space technology
• Mr. Richard C Mulready
  Awarded

  AIAA Citation: For significant contributions to the development of practical Lox-Hydrogen rocket engines which have played an essential role in the nation''s space program and in the advancement of space technology
• John Sloop
  Awarded

  AIAA Citation: For significant contributions to the development of practical Lox-Hydrogen rocket engines which have played an essential role in the nation''s space program and in the advancement of space technology

1973

• Edward S Taylor
  Awarded

  AIAA Citation: For continuous and successful contributions to the advancement of the art and science of air-breathing propulsion over a period of forty-five years as designer, inventor, researcher, teacher, advisor and as founder and leader of a major educational and research center of aircraft engine activity

1972

• Mr. Brian Brimelow
  Awarded-CoRecipients

  AIAA Citation: For their brilliant and successful program of testing and analysis that provided the first comprehensive understanding of the nature of inlet turbulence induced compressor stalls
• Mr. Gary A Plourde
  Awarded-CoRecipients

  AIAA Citation: For their brilliant and successful program of testing and analysis that provided the first comprehensive understanding of the nature of inlet turbulence induced compressor stalls
• Howard E Schumacher
  Awarded-CoRecipients

  AIAA Citation: For their brilliant and successful program of testing and analysis that provided the first comprehensive understanding of the nature of inlet turbulence induced compressor stalls

1970

• Mr. Gerhard Neumann
  Awarded

  AIAA Citation: For pioneering achievements in the development of high performance aircraft gas turbine engines, including the invention to the variable stator compressor system that is making possible and entire generation of both subsonic and supersonic engines and for leadership in fostering the development and production of the high bypass turbofan

1969

• Perry W Pratt
  Awarded-CoRecipients

  AIAA Citation: For their independent and sustained major contributions, each in his own country, to the development of the aircraft gas turbine; and for their imagination, competence and persistence which have made these engines outstanding in human transportation
• Stanley G Hooker
  Awarded-CoRecipients

  Award: -

  AIAA Citation: For their independent and sustained major contributions, each in his own country, to the development of the aircraft gas turbine; and for their imagination, competence and persistence which have made these engines outstanding in human transportation

1968

• Donald C Berkey
  Awarded

  AIAA Citation: For an outstanding contribution to aircraft propulsion through development of the high-bypass-ration turbofan engine
• Ernest C Simpson
  Awarded

  AIAA Citation: For an outstanding contribution to aircraft propulsion through development of the high-bypass-ration turbofan engine
• James E Worsham
  Awarded

  AIAA Citation: For an outstanding contribution to aircraft propulsion through development of the high-bypass-ration turbofan engine

1967

• Mr. Robert O Bullock
  Awarded-CoRecipients

  AIAA Citation: For long term and contributions in the field of compressor research and design culminating in the development of the transonic compressor with directly resultant significant advancement in the state of the art of aircraft jet propulsion
• Irving A Johnson
  Awarded-CoRecipients

  AIAA Citation: For long term and contributions in the field of compressor research and design culminating in the development of the transonic compressor with directly resultant significant advancement in the state of the art of aircraft jet propulsion
• Mr. Seymour Lieblein
  Awarded-CoRecipients

  AIAA Citation: For long term and contributions in the field of compressor research and design culminating in the development of the transonic compressor with directly resultant significant advancement in the state of the art of aircraft jet propulsion

1966

• A. W Blackman
  Awarded-CoRecipients

  AIAA Citation: For their contributions to the understanding to the phenomenon of combustion instability and for their recognition of acoustical liners as a method of suppressing such instabilities in turbojet afterburners and rocket engines
• Dr Hans P Von Ohain
  Awarded-CoRecipients

  AIAA Citation: For their contributions to the understanding to the phenomenon of combustion instability and for their recognition of acoustical liners as a method of suppressing such instabilities in turbojet afterburners and rocket engines
• George D. Lewis
  Awarded-CoRecipients

  Award: .

  AIAA Citation: For their contributions to the understanding to the phenomenon of combustion instability and for their recognition of acoustical liners as a method of suppressing such instabilities in turbojet afterburners and rocket engines.

1965

• Sir Frank Whittle
  Awarded

  AIAA Citation: For imagination, skill, persistence, and courage in pioneering the gas turbine as a jet propulsion aircraft engine thus revolutionizing military and commercial aviation for all time

1962

• Dr R. R Gilruth
  Awarded

  AIAA Citation: for outstanding work in liquid propellant rockets

1961

• Wernher von Braun
  Awarded

1960

• Theodore von Karman
  Awarded

1958

• Richard B Canright
  Awarded

1957

• Dr Thomas F Dixon
  Awarded

1956

• Chandler C Ross
  Awarded

1955

• Mr. Edward N Hall
  Awarded

1954

• A M O Smith
  Awarded

  AIAA Citation: for outstanding work in liquid propellant rockets

1952

• Richard W Porter
  Awarded

1951

• CAPT Robert C Truax
  Truax Engineering Inc

  Awarded

1950

• Lovell Lawrence Jr.
  Awarded

1949

• Calvin M Bolster
  Awarded

1948

• John Shesta
  Awarded