SpaceX Wins 2016 Space Achievement Award

In December 2015, SpaceX, a known pioneer in the space industry, successfully landed the first stage of its Falcon 9 rocket. The Falcon 9 left Cape Canaveral in Florida, delivered 11 satellites to orbit and historically landed the first stage minutes later. For that achievement, the Space Foundation has selected SpaceX to receive one of its top honors, the 2016 Space Achievement Award.

“Space is a risky business, but SpaceX continues to push the envelope in innovation, moving humanity forward. The work being done by SpaceX will reduce cost and overhead for space travel, making exploration more accessible,” said Space Foundation Chief Executive Officer Elliot Pulham.

The Space Achievement Award recognizes individuals or organizations for breakthrough space technology or critical milestones in the evolution of space exploration and development.  

Recipients over the past few years have included:

• 2015 X-37B OTV Team
• 2014 U.S. Air Force GPS Team
• 2013 NOAA
• 2012 Junichiro Kawaguchi, Ph.D., JAXA
• 2011 SpaceX and Telecom sans Frontieres
• 2010 Hubble Space Telescope Repair Mission Team

The 2016 Space Achievement Award will be presented on April 11 during the opening ceremony of the 32nd Space Symposium at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, Colo., USA. The opening ceremony is co-sponsored by Northrop Grumman, and features presentation of top Space Foundation awards.

About the Space Symposium
To be held April 11-14, the Space Symposium is the annual must-attend gathering of all sectors of the global space community. Visit www.SpaceSymposium.org for secure online registration and complete conference information. A discount on standard industry registration is currently available if paid by March 11, 2016.

Co-sponsors
a.i. solutions; Aerojet Rocketdyne; Aerus; AGI; Arianespace, Inc.; ASRC Federal; BAE Systems; Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp.; Boeing; Booz Allen Hamilton; Colorado Space Coalition; El Pomar Foundation; FLUOR; General Dynamics; Harris; Holland & Hart; Inmarsat; Intelsat General Corporation; Lockheed Martin Space Systems Co.; Northrop Grumman; Raytheon; SAIC; Secure World Foundation; SES Government Solutions; SpaceX; Stellar Solutions; United Launch Alliance (ULA). Aviation Week Network and Space News are official media partners.

This article is part of Space Watch: March 2016 (Volume: 15, Issue: 3).