The Aerospace Corporation Celebrates 50 Years of Leadership In Space

EL SEGUNDO - March 10, 2010 -- On June 4, 2010, The Aerospace Corporation will officially celebrate its 50th anniversary as America's expert in national security space. Between now and that day, the corporation will celebrate this milestone with a myriad of activities commemorating the role Aerospace has played in the nation's space programs.

"The Aerospace Corporation was established by legislation creating a nonprofit corporation, free from conflict of interest, to hire, train and retain sufficient technical and scientific skills to support the Air Force space program and assure mission success," stated Dr. Wanda Austin, president and chief executive officer. "Over the last 50 years we have proudly operated a Federally Funded Research and Development Center with that sole purpose. Our contributions include a leadership role in development of the Global Positioning System and decades of technical and scientific support to virtually every launch vehicle, satellite and ground system involved in national security space."

To mark the year of Aerospace's golden anniversary, a commemorative calendar was distributed to employees and selected others featuring information and photos about several key events in Aerospace history, as well as photos for current and past programs. On January 20, Gen. Robert Kehler, Commander of US Space Command kicked off a distinguished speaker series that will run for six months and feature Gen. Bruce Carlson, Director of the National Reconnaissance Office; Charles Bolden, head of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration; and Air Force Secretary Michael Donley.

Articles are running in various internal publications and the spring edition of Crosslink, the corporation's magazine, will be dedicated to programs and technology the corporation has worked on over its history. The corporation will also publish a history book containing a comprehensive history of Aerospace and a "people book" with photos of all current employees as well as photos from each decade since the corporation was established in 1960. Additionally, employee celebrations and open houses are planned at company locations around the United States.

"We are grateful for the opportunity to support critical national programs over the last 50 years," stated Wanda Austin, president and CEO of Aerospace, "and we look forward to another 50 years of service."

The Aerospace Corporation, based in El Segundo, Calif., is an independent, nonprofit company that provides objective technical analyses and assessments for critical national security space programs and selected civil and commercial space programs in the national interest. Aerospace has been assuring space mission success for nearly 50 years.

Contact Pam Keeton, 703-812-0648 or Pamela.V.Keeton@aero.org.