Space Certification Program

The Space program has captured the imagination of the world since its inception. Over the last fifty years, many of the technologies developed to help get us "out there" have come home to help improve life for all of us here on Earth.

The Space Foundation was founded March 21, 1983, as an IRS 501 (c)(3) organization "to foster, develop and promote, among the citizens of the United States of America and among other people of the world ... a greater understanding and awareness ... of the practical and theoretical utilization of space ... for the benefit of civilization and the fostering of peaceful and prosperous world."

As part of the Space Foundation mission to advance space-related endeavors to inspire, enable, and propel humanity, the Space Certification Program was created in cooperation with NASA to help improve public awareness and appreciation of the many practical benefits that we enjoy thanks to space technology.

The Space Certification Program awards a "seal of approval" to companies whose products and services can demonstrate a viable link to the space program. Often referred to as "spinoffs", there are literally thousands of products and services that incorporate space technology including satellite television and radio, Global Positioning System (GPS) navigation, cellular communications, advanced industrial lubricants, robotics, plastics, and a long list of life improving and life saving medical technologies.

Certified products often set the standard for innovation, comfort, convenience and dependability. Licensed use of the seal allows the companies that produce and market these products to tie their business to the excitement of space while helping inform the public of how space exploration directly benefits life on Earth.