# Jim Baen Memorial Short Story Award

'The Jim Baen Memorial Short Story Award, established in 2007, is an annual literary award for science fiction short stories presented by the National Space Society and Baen Books. Recognizing "the role that science fiction plays in advancing real science", the award is presented to "original stories celebrating optimistic, near-future space exploration." In 2024, multi-time contest winner C. Stuart Hardwick took over the contest's directorship from William Ledbetter after 17 years at the helm.
The award honors American science fiction publisher and editor Jim Baen (1943–2006).

## Recipients

Jim Baen Memorial Short Story Award winners :
| Year | Author | Story | Result |
| 2007 | Mjke Wood | "Better Sense of Direction" | 1 |
| 2007 | Robert Billing | "Anniversary" | 2 |
| 2007 | Michael A. McPherson | "Acclimatization" | 3 |
| 2008 | David Walton | "Letting Go" | 1 |
| 2008 | Darwin Garrison | "Skipping Stones" | 2 |
| 2008 | Charlie Allery | "Self Defense" | 3 |
| 2009 | Michael Barretta | "Cathedral" | 1 |
| 2009 | Patrick Lundrigan | "Burst Mode" | 2 |
| 2009 | Graham Storrs | "All The Way" | 3 |
| 2010 | Patrick Lundrigan | "Space Hero" | 1 |
| 2010 | David D. Levine | "Citizen-Astronaut" | 2 |
| 2010 | Stuart D. Gibbon | "High Ground" | 3 |
| 2011 | Nancy Fulda | "That Undiscovered Country" | 1 |
| 2011 | Brad Torgersen | "Gemini XVII" | 2 |
| 2011 | Michael Simon | "Natural Selection" | 3 |
| 2012 | R. P. L. Johnson | "Taking the High Road" | 1 |
| 2012 | Martin L. Shoemaker | "Scramble" | 2 |
| 2012 | James Wymore | "One Cog" | 3 |
| 2013 | Patrick O'Sullivan | "The Lamplighter Legacy" | 1 |
| 2013 | Ronald D. Ferguson | "Intent to Occupy" | 2 |
| 2013 | Sean Monaghan | "Improvising at Branson Six" | 3 |
| 2014 | Sean Monaghan | "Low Arc" | 1 |
| 2014 | Marina J. Lostetter | "Balance" | 2 |
| 2014 | Angus McIntyre | "Wind Shear" | 3 |
| 2015 | K. B. Rylander | "We Fly" | 1 |
| 2015 | Jamie Lackey | "A Metal Box Floating Between the Stars" | 2 |
| 2015 | Robert Dawson | "Boomerang Zone" | 3 |
| 2016 | Aimee Ogden | "Dear Ammi" | 1 |
| 2016 | Jennifer Brozek | "To Lose the Stars" | 2 |
| 2016 | Ronald D. Ferguson | "Cylinders" | 3 |
| 2017 | Philip A. Kramer | "Feldspar" | 1 |
| 2017 | Stephen Lawson | "Bullet Catch" | 2 |
| 2017 | M. T. Reiten | "An Economy of Air" | 3 |
| 2018 | Stephen Lawson | "Homunculus" | 1 |
| 2018 | C. Stuart Hardwick | "Dangerous Company" | 2 |
| 2018 | Wendy Nikel | "Falling to the Moon" | 3 |
| 2019 | Matt McHugh | "Burners" | 1 |
| 2019 | Gustavo Bondoni | "Acid Test" | 2 |
| 2019 | M. T. Reiten | "Dangerous Orbit" | 3 |
| 2020 | M. T. Reiten | "Bagala Devi Objective" | 1 |
| 2020 | Kate MacEachern | "Spinners" | 2 |
| 2020 | C. Stuart Hardwick | "Sample Return" | 3 |
| 2021 | Scott Huggins | "Salvage Judgement" | 1 |
| 2021 | C. Stuart Hardwick | "Reaction Time" | 2 |
| 2021 | Kurt Pankau | "Love On The Ganymede Trail" | 3 |
| 2021 | Gustavo Bondoni | "Samba do Espaço" | 3 |
| 2022 | Elaine Midcoh | "Man on the Moon" | 1 |
| 2022 | Pierre-Alexandre Sicart | "A New Life" | 2 |
| 2022 | Harry Lang | "The Rocketship of Her Dreams" | 3 |
| 2023 | Brad Zeiger | "The Insomniac" | 1 |
| 2023 | Avery Parks | "High Risk" | 2 |
| 2023 | J. M. Eno | "Cronus" | 3 |
| 2024 | Zack Be | "Locus of Control" | 1 |
| 2024 | Trent Guillory | "Extraction" | 2 |
| 2024 | William Paul Jones | "Saving Gallivander" | 3 |