AIAA has played a critical role in advancing space exploration, inspiration, and discovery since the beginning of modern rocketry. Space is becoming an essential part of our everyday lives and there are more and more entities getting involved, making space more congested and complex, requiring new rules and norms so that all participants can coexist and prosper. AIAA plays a key role in bringing diverse perspectives together to collaboratively develop solutions. Based on its decades of technical heritage, AIAA fosters the advancement of key future technologies and helps play a role in developing newly required technical standards.
Key Topics
Competitive and Burgeoning Space Economy
Space use continues to expand and become more of a commercial concern. The United States must evolve how it works in space to maintain and continue to grow the U.S. commercial space sector.
Subtopics
Lunar Surface Exploration and Development
The Moon is the maior shared focus of current and future space exploration. Many actors - public and private, domestic and international - are increasingly endeavoring to land and operate on the Moon with both robotic and human flight systems in the face challenges at the frontiers of technical, financial, and programmatic capabilities. The Lunar Surface Exploration and Development Task Force will identify and document critical initial steps for lunar surface exploration that will promote sustainable lunar and space exploration, international cooperation and coordination, and economic development.Cislunar Infrastructure & Operations
The future of cislunar missions will depend on an emerging infrastructure of private and public sector services and capabilities. A range of human and/or robotic/autonomous mission approaches, great power competition, and economic forces will drive the development of various cislunar infrastructure and operational capabilities. The Cislunar Infrastructure and Operations Task Force intends to drive toward answering the hard questions of how government and commercial capabilities will combine to enable development of cislunar operations infrastructure.Space Ecosystem Development
The economic and governance foundations of space activity are shifting rapidly as decades of government dominance of the space sector gives way to an increasingly privately capitalized space industry. Nonetheless, non-government market demand for such high-profile space-related capabilities as human spaceflight, and lunar and deep space exploration, remains low. The Space Ecosystem Development Task Force will address today's and tomorrow's economic, governance, and business approaches that impact the viability, extent, and growth.
Outpacing the Space Threat
Space is essential to our everyday lives. How do we protect this asset, maintain U.S. global leadership, and continue to defend U.S. national security interests?
Space Exploration
How can we sustainably explore our solar system and beyond including the capabilities of the many new companies and countries that have spacefaring capability and ambitions?
Space Sustainability
Space Sustainability How can we best use space/space assets to protect and manage our planet’s resources, people, and property and to address the climate crisis.
Space Traffic Management / Space Traffic Coordination
With the ever-growing presence of objects in space, especially the large LEO constellations, there are needs for norms, rules, and principles to guide the use of outer space if we are to preserve it for current and future generations.
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AIAA Related Content
EVENTS
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43rd Digital Avionics Systems Conference (DASC)
29 September - 3 October 2024
San Diego, California, USA
Join us in San Diego, California, USA for the 43rd AIAA DATC/IEEE Digital Avionics Systems Conference (DASC), the preeminent Research and Development conference in the field of digital avionics. -
2024 Yvonne C. Brill Lecture & Reception
1 October 2024 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. (Eastern Daylight Time)
Washington, DC, USA
This talk will explore what we can learn from the remarkable evolution of a military navigation system into a global utility, and consider where today’s new advances in utilization of signals-of-opportunity, optical communications, atomic clocks, and quantum sensing might lead. -
16th Overset Grid Symposium
7 October - 10 October 2024
Dayton, Ohio, USA
This international symposium provides an open forum for communication among mathematicians, scientists, and engineers from academia, industry, and government. The technical organization is informal, and only oral presentations are required. -
2024 SmallSat Education Conference
26 October - 27 October 2024
Kennedy Space Center Visitors Center, Florida, USA
Join us 26–27 October for the 2024 SmallSat Education Conference, an important East Coast gathering where educators, administrators, and students will learn about CubeSats, ThinSats, and High Altitude Balloon programs. -
AIAA Young Professionals, Students, and Educators (YPSE) Conference
22 November 2024
Laurel, Maryland, USA
The AIAA Mid-Atlantic Section is organizing the AIAA Young Professionals, Students, and Educators (YPSE) Conference, to be held 22 November The conference will be held at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory Kossiakoff Center. -
2024 Region VII Student Conference
25 November - 26 November 2024
Melbourne, Australia & Online
AIAA is pleased to announce that the Region VII Student Conference will be held from 25–26 November 2024 at Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Australia & Online.
COURSES
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Fundamentals and Applications of Thermal Vacuum Testing – Online Short Course (Starts 28 Oct 2024)
28 October - 20 November 2024
This is the definitive course on Vacuum Testing from AIAA, reviewing the physics and fundamentals of thermo-vacuum testing, satellite test requirements and the physics behind vacuum bake-out, cycling, and balance testing.
Open for registration. Register Now
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Advanced Hydrogen Aerospace Technologies and Design – Online Short Course (Starts 8 October 2024)
8 October - 7 November 2024
This new joint course from AIAA and HYSKY Society, the latest and greatest in hydrogen aerospace technology is presented in the context of Fixed-Wing and eVTOL aircraft/vehicle design.
Open for registration. Register Now
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Orbital Mechanics and Mission Simulation – Online Short Course (Starts 9 Sept 2024)
9 September - 16 October 2024
Orbital Mechanics and Mission Simulation will familiarize the student with the essential features of space flight dynamics for various types of space missions and will cover the requirements and design considerations for mission simulation systems.
Open for registration. Register Now
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EVA 101: Life Support Systems – Online Short Course (Starts 9 Sept 2024)
9 September - 18 November 2024
EVA 101: Life Support Systems will familiarize the student with the essential features of life support systems required for various types of space missions and will cover the requirements and design considerations for life support systems in space.
Open for registration. Register Now
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Spacecraft Avionics Systems Design and Applications – Online Short Course (Starts November 5, 2024)
5 November - 21 November 2024
This new practical course taught by a mission/system expert offers a rare deep dive into spacecraft avionics systems engineering and design.
Open for registration. Register Now
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Fundamentals of Space Domain Awareness (European Offering) – Online Short Course (November 6–7, 2024)
6 November - 7 November 2024
This is the ONLY course that provides complete coverage of Space Domain Awareness (SDA).
Open for registration. Register Now
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Space Domain Awareness – Online Short Course (September 9-12, 2024)
9 September - 12 September 2024
This is the ONLY course that provides complete coverage of Space Domain Awareness (SDA).
Open for registration. Register Now
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The Anatomy of Autonomy
NEWS
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Dan Dumbacher Recognized with Allyship Award
21 August 2024
AIAA CEO Dan Dumbacher is being recognized by Women in Aerospace with their 2024 Allyship Award. This honor is presented to an individual ‘who actively promotes and aspires to advance a culture... -
AIAA Accelerates the Future of Aviation and Space at 2024 AIAA AVIATION Forum and 2024 ASCEND
21 August 2024
The latest aircraft, spacecraft, technologies, and missions were on display in Las Vegas, Nevada, from July 28 until August 2 by AIAA. AIAA co-located two of its signature events – 2024 AIAA AVIATION Forum and 2024 ASCEND – in one venue, Caesars Forum, for the week. -
AIAA and Tripadvisor Launch “Destination: Space” to Open Up Space Tourism to New Audiences
30 July 2024
AIAA and Tripadvisor have launched “Destination: Space,” a new content platform dedicated to space tourism, exploration, and education. “Destination: Space” aims to demystify space... -
AIAA Announces 2023–2024 Section Award Winners
29 July 2024
AIAA has announced its 2023–2024 section award winners. The section awards honor particularly notable achievements made by members of AIAA’s 57 sections around the world in a range of activities that help fulfill the Institute’s mission. -
AIAA Unveils ASCEND Diverse Dozen Op-Eds on Space Sustainability and Environmentalism
19 July 2024
AIAA today published the 2024 ASCEND Diverse Dozen (D12) Op-Eds – a collection of unique perspectives on today’s most pressing space sustainability challenges. The 12 visionaries who comprise the D12 will present their ideas on the opening day of 2024 ASCEND, 30 July – 1 August, Las Vegas. -
Penina Axelrad Awarded 2024 Yvonne C. Brill Lectureship in Aerospace Engineering
10 July 2024
AIAA and the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) are pleased to announce that Penina Axelrad, distinguished professor at the University of Colorado Boulder, has been selected as the recipient of the 2024 Yvonne C. Brill Lectureship in Aerospace Engineering. -
AIAA and Club for the Future Announce Recipient of 2024 Resilient Student Scholarship
9 July 2024
AIAA and Blue Origin’s non-profit Club for the Future are pleased to announce the recipient of their 2024 Resilient Student Scholarship is Rylie Tatum from Mableton, GA. Rylie is a recent high school graduate of The Lovett School, Atlanta, GA. -
2024 AIAA David W. Thompson Lecture in Space Commerce Presented by Sir Martin Sweeting During 2024 ASCEND
8 July 2024
AIAA is pleased to announce the 2024 AIAA David W. Thompson Lectureship in Space Commerce is awarded to Sir Martin Sweeting, Executive Chairman, Surrey Satellite Technology, Ltd. (SSTL) and Distinguished Professor, Surrey Space Centre...