June 25, 1960
At a press conference held at the U.S. Air Force Ballistic Missile Division headquarters in El Segundo, California, Lt. Gen. Bernard A. Schriever announced the "formation of a new nonprofit organization, The Aerospace Corporation, to serve the Air Force in the scientific and technical planning and management of missile-space programs."
"We have to have the most competent technical people in the country to provide us with the overall management capability for programs of this magnitude and of such importance . . . Aerospace will be one element of our management team that will continue to run these programs for us," he said.
Making Space Work Since 1960
The Aerospace Corporation was created in 1960 because the United States Congress recognized the need for an independent organization, free from conflict of interest, to oversee U.S. space and missile programs. Since the company's inception, the men and women of Aerospace have focused on serving the nation by helping to develop the most reliable and robust space launch and satellite systems at the lowest prudent cost.
Our involvement in defense space programs begins long before and often continues long after launch, spanning every facet and phase, from acquisition, design, development, system engineering, launch, anomaly resolution, and on-orbit operations. Today we support our primary sponsors and civil and commercial customers in continued access to and operations in space.
Our heritage with national-security space programs dates from the very beginnings of the space era, making us the national memory for space system development. Our longstanding involvement also ensures that the lessons of the past are applied to the next generation of space systems.
