The Space & Satellite Professionals International was founded in the USA in 1983, with Sir Arthur C. Clarke, creator of the satellite concept, as its honorary chairman.
Our founding purpose was to serve as a professional network in a young industry that was on the verge of substantial growth. SSPI offered a way for satellite professionals to keep in touch with each other and with technology change in an industry that rapidly spread across the globe.
Today, with over 3,000 members in more than 40 nations, our core mission has expanded. SSPI aims to promote space and satellite as the invisible but indispensable infrastructure of the modern world and to make the industry one of the world’s best at attracting and nurturing the talent that powers innovation.
WHAT WE DO
In our founding year, satellites and space were the hottest technologies in the world. Today, they have to share the stage with information technology, Internet, biotech, nanotech and other industries pushing out the boundaries of what is possible. Our Better Satellite World campaign shows the world why our industry, though often invisible, is indispensable to modern life, through powerful stories and videos that depict space and satellite technologies contributing to the economy, society and sustainability of planet Earth.
Fulfilling our industry’s potential means making it one of the most attractive, exciting and rewarding places that talented people can work. Through our Promise2Purpose program, SSPI operates career education programs with student organizations in multiple countries, which offer a bridge between university study and future careers in commercial space & satellite. We also work to improve the industry’s ability to engage and manage talent, and honor companies for commitment to the people whose talents make innovation happen.