Rapidly Expanding Commercial Space Sector Means Job Opportunities For Graduates

This fall, students can take their place at the forefront of one of the nation’s fastest growing industries following Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s approval of the world’s first degree program in Commercial Space Operations.

The new degree program, offered by the College of Aviation at the Daytona Beach, FL, campus of the world’s largest accredited aviation and aerospace academic institution, will supply the commercial spaceflight industry with skilled graduates in the areas of space policy, operations, regulation and certification, as well as space flight safety, and space program training, management and planning.

Plans for the program were first announced Feb. 6 at the 16th FAA Annual Commercial Space Transportation Conference in Washington by Embry-Riddle Chief Academic Officer Richard Heist, Program Coordinator Lance Erickson and Student Researcher Rebecca Zgorski. It was approved by Embry-Riddle’s Board of Trustees on March 22 and will begin in the fall. “The Commercial Space Operations degree is the culmination of a total effort by the College of Aviation’s leadership, faculty, and students,” said Tim Brady, dean of the campus’s College of Aviation. “It is also gratifying to have had tremendous help and support of the space industry.”

Among the members of an industry council that advises the College of Aviation, Brady singled out Kennedy Space Center Director Robert Cabana for his role in articulating the need for the new Embry-Riddle degree and helping to develop it. Graduates of the new degree program will have the qualifications needed to fill jobs in management, training and education, policy, safety, program and project planning, human factors, regulation, flight planning and operations. The program links Embry-Riddle’s expertise in aerospace education with the needs of commercial space industries and regulatory agencies. “When we were planning this degree, our advisers from the commercial space industry, including SpaceX, said they couldn’t wait to hire our graduates,” Erickson said. “It is one of the most innovative non-engineering degrees in the aerospace industry.”

FMI: www.embryriddle.edu