The new course merges the specificities of a traditional MBA with space applications. The dozen participants, who took part in the first of four residential “modules” from June 1 to June 13, came from a variety of backgrounds and employers. They include large aerospace companies, government space agencies, small and medium size space-related organizations, as well as consultancy firms. The first module was designed to provide financial and economic baseline concepts as well as an overview of the space sector, technically as well as from an organizational perspective.
Three other two-week residential modules, at various locations in Europe and the U.S., combined with distance-learning during this 18-month program, will provide the participants with more in-depth knowledge in such space-related areas as financing, economics, business law, policy and project management. Afterwards, the participants will apply this knowledge in a thesis which they will defend in the last module to occur at ISU’s Central Campus. The remaining modules of this inaugural class will take place in partnership with the International Business School on the Isle of Man, The Space Policy Institute of George Washington University in Washington, DC, and the Space Foundation in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The first participants are expected to graduate in December of 2010.