# International Space University

The International Space University (ISU) is dedicated to the discovery, research, and development of outer space and its applications for peaceful purposes, through international and multidisciplinary education and research programs. ISU was founded in 1987 and is registered in France and in the US as a non profit organisation. The university offers a one or two-year Master in Space Studies (MSS) in Strasbourg and shorter professional development programs across the world. The latter include an itinerant nine-week Space Studies Program (SSP), a five-week Southern Hemisphere SSP in partnership with the University of South Australia, a 6-week Commercial Space graduate certificate in partnership with the Florida Institute of Technology, and one-week Executive Space Courses in Australia, Europe and the United States.
The International Space University Central Campus and global headquarters are located in Illkirch-Graffenstaden which is a suburb of Strasbourg in northeastern France. ISU was founded on the "3-Is" philosophy providing an Interdisciplinary, Intercultural, and International environment for educating and training space professionals and post-graduate students. As of April 2020, there were over 5000 ISU alumni from 109 countries. In November 2017 the International Space University hosted a conference in Strasbourg that led to the formation of the Moon Village Association. The ISU faculty members include astronauts, space agency leaders, space engineers, space scientists, managers, and experts in space law and policy comprising an international collection of experts in technical and non-technical space-related fields.
The Chancellor of the International Space University is Pascale Ehrenfreund, Chair of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) Executive Board and President of the International Astronautical Federation (IAF). She was preceded by Apollo astronaut Buzz Aldrin, who succeeded then–European Space Agency Director-General Jean-Jacques Dordain and acclaimed science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke, in 2004. The sixth President of the International Space University is Juan de Dalmau who succeeded Prof. Walter Peeters, in September 2018.

## History

In 1985, three young space enthusiasts created the Space Generation Foundation, dedicated to fostering a sense of identity for those people born since the beginning of the space era. The ISU founders are Peter Diamandis, one of the founders of SEDS and a medical doctor with a Master's in aerospace engineering from MIT; Todd Hawley, a graduate from Space Policy Institute at George Washington University; Robert D. Richards, an engineer and physicist, and former assistant of the well-known astrophysicist Carl Sagan. The three men generated a series of novel ideas from which a "Space University" was exceptionally well received. The idea garnered the support of a number of important personalities in the space field, including Prof. U.R. Rao, president of the Indian Space Research Organization; Dr. Harrison Schmitt, an Apollo 17 astronaut and former senator; Dr. Burton Edelson, Associate Administrator of NASA for Space, Science, and Applications; Dr. Gerard K. O'Neill from the Space Studies Institute; space pioneer Prof. Hermann Oberth; and Arthur C. Clarke, the visionary writer, along with many others.
This initiative was further developed and presented to the Advances in the Astronautical Sciences (AAS) Meeting dedicated to Aerospace Century XXI in Boulder, Colorado in 1986. The following year, a three-day Founding Conference convened at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) from 10 to 12 April 1987. These dates were chosen to commemorate the flight of Yuri Gagarin (12 April 1961), the first human in space. With the addition of a fourth founder, Christopher D. Mau, a Cambridge venture capitalist, ISU organizational work began in earnest. The Founding Conference culminated in the formal creation of the International Space University, and established it as a 501(c)(3) non-profit educational organization in the state of Massachusetts, USA. The first ISU Summer Session Program (SSP) took place at MIT from 20 June to 20 August 1988 with the support of the major space agencies. A significant announcement in an article dating 5 July 1988, in the Christian Science Monitor introduced the four founders and their novel and exciting venture. In a ceremonial gesture, the first international participants in the summer session were led by the four founders in a walk across the Charles River from MIT in Cambridge to Boston. The artwork for the first brochure was made by Pat Rawlings and is still in use today. The original offices of the fledgling ISU were located in a Victorian townhouse overlooking bustling Kenmore Square in Boston.
Following an international competition for a host city for the Central Campus, the ISU home base moved from Massachusetts to Illkirch-Graffenstaden in the Urban Community of Strasbourg, France, in 1994. ISU is now a non-profit association registered in Alsace (France), and is still registered in the US as a 501(c)(3) non-profit educational organization. The Governing Members of ISU are international organizations, industries, space agencies, academic institutions, and individual members.
The French Ministry of Education formally recognized ISU as an institute of higher education in 2004 The International Space University has had permanent observer status with the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) of the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs since 1998. ISU was also granted full membership of the Space Agency Forum (SAF) in 1995. ISU is a member of the International Astronautical Federation (IAF) and has been invited to contribute to a number of international activities including the Asia-Pacific Regional Space Agency Forum, the IAF Symposium on "Bringing Space into Education", the World Space Workshop on Education, and the National Science Week Steering Committee.

## Campus

ISU originally evolved in a geographically decentralized way, with summer sessions convened in a different country each year. In 1994 the Central Campus was established in Strasbourg, Alsace, France, because of its central European location and unique character. During the first years, the Master of Science classes took place in the Pôle API of the École Nationale Supérieure de Physique de Strasbourg.
Since 2002 ISU has had its own building, thanks to the support of the local authorities. The Central Campus is now located in the Parc d'Innovation of Illkirch-Graffenstaden just south of Strasbourg.

## Organization and administration

ISU's organizational structure includes a Board of Advisors, chaired by the Chancellor, and a board of trustees elected by the Governing Membership of the ISU. The Board of Trustees determines ISU's overall objectives, oversees the university's affairs and appoints the ISU President. The President is supported by an executive committee, Academic Staff (who prepare and deliver ISU programs) and Administrative Staff (responsible for the daily operation of the Institution). The Academic Staff are led by the Dean, who is supported by staff responsible for ISU's academic programs (Masters and SSP) and library services. The Academic Council of ISU is responsible for ensuring the academic quality of ISU's teaching and research activities. ISU academic staff include a number of Resident Faculty, augmented by other Faculty and Lecturers as needed for the programs.

## Academic facilities
### Library

Since 1995, the collection of the ISU Library has grown to reach about 9,000 space-related documents. The collection supports the interdisciplinary aspects of the courses and includes subjects like space-related business and management, space policy and law, international cooperation, remote sensing and Earth observation, telecommunication, space engineering, space mission design, astronomy, space life sciences, and space medicine. The Library also features news about space, information from space agencies and research institutes around the world, and awareness and alerting services from journals. RSS feeds can be used to follow the library's new acquisitions. Interested people may subscribe to the feeds for receiving regular updates about books, electronic documents, or Team Projects reports that are added to the online catalog.

## Notable staff
### Founders

* Peter Diamandis
* Todd B. Hawley
* Robert D. Richards

### Chancellors

* 1987–2004: Arthur C. Clarke
* 2004–2015: Jean-Jacques Dordain
* 2015–2018: Buzz Aldrin
* 2018–present: Pascale Ehrenfreund

### Presidents

* 1991–1994: George Van Reeth
* 1994–1998: Roland Doré
* 1998–2004: Karl Doetsch
* 2004–2011: Michael Simpson
* 2011–2018: Walter Peeters
* 2018–2021: Juan De Dalmau
* 2021–2023: Pascale Ehrenfreund
* 2023–present: Nicolas Peter (Acting)

### Notable faculty

* Ben Finney, 1994-2003 co-chair of Space and Society department
* Dustin Bates, 2006 ISU Summer Session Program Teaching Associate

### Astronauts

* Oleg Atkov, Russian Railways, Faculty
* James H. Newman, NASA, the first ISU alumnus (SSP 1989) to go into space
* Jeffrey Hoffman, NASA & MIT, Faculty
* Chiaki Mukai, JAXA, Faculty
* Reinhold Ewald, ESA, lecturer
* Jean-Jacques Favier, CNES, lecturer
* Robert Thirsk, CSA, lecturer
* Soyeon Yi, KARI, lecturer, the first astronaut to attend ISU (SSP 2009)
* Anousheh Ansari, the first person to receive an ISU honorary doctorate while in space
* Sergei Krikalev, Energya, Special Guest Lecturer
* Yang Liwei, CASC, Special Guest Lecturer
* Michel Tognini, CNES & ESA, Special Guest Lecturer
* Jessica Meir, NASA, alumna (MSS 2000)