Welcome to The Aerospace Institute

M.J. Wheaton,
Executive Director

"I encourage you to browse this site to learn more about the Institute, the role it plays within the corporation, and the specific products and services it offers. Visit us often and be a life-long learner!"

The Aerospace Institute serves as the key learning and knowledge-sharing resource of The Aerospace Corporation. It coordinates education, training, and staff development activities at the corporation. It also operates the Charles E. Lauritsen Library, which is responsible for information research and archive resources of the corporation, and manages The Aerospace Press, which publishes Aerospace-developed educational materials. The Institute fosters an environment that promotes continuing learning--knowledge acquisition--for all. By making learning an integral, ongoing part of everyone's career, we help employees deliver maximum value to our customers, and help to assure space mission success.

The Institute supports the corporate vision to be the leading architect of the country's national-security space program and a principal technical resource for programs of national significance. The Institute's charter and accountabilities provide a foundation for the corporate values of Dedication to Mission Success, Commitment to Our People, Technical Excellence, Objectivity and Integrity. In particular, the Institute's primary role is to support the corporation's commitment to maintain and improve our world-class workforce. We provide a great variety of learning opportunities and a broad curriculum of education, training, and personal development courses and programs. We also manage a full range of electronic and print-based information resources, including our own library and press.

The Institute's educational programs, which are conducted through the Learning Systems Center, include technical education, business and leadership development, and computing skills. The Aerospace Corporation federally funded research and development contract permits our customers to take advantage of our technical education offerings because they impart information unique to the work performed at the company.

Technical education addresses core competencies in the application of space technology. It covers a wide range of topics in space systems, architecting, acquisition, and engineering, as well as the technologies and engineering disciplines associated with space and space-related missions and systems.

The Library and Information Resources Center serves employees at all Aerospace locations. Its extensive collection is carefully selected to support corporate activities, with principal emphasis on aerospace technology, physical and applied sciences, systems engineering, and business management. Online databases and Internet resources supplement in-house collections. The nationally known Charles C. Lauritsen Library provides a full range of research services. Its large and varied collection includes more than 100,000 printed and electronic books, 145,000 technical reports, and 12,000 specifications and standards.

The Aerospace Press, the publishing arm of the corporation, publishes books and monographs on critical technical topics in aerospace science and technology. As copublisher, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) prints and markets the books. The Press also publishes Crosslink, the corporation's technical magazine showcasing the company's contributions to aerospace technology. Crosslink has received the coveted Maggie Award from the Western Publications Association as the top semiannual/three-time-published magazine in the Western United States. Both Crosslink and the books are written by members of the Aerospace technical staff, who are among the foremost authorities in aerospace technology.