Welcome to spacearchitect.org, the official webpage maintained by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Space Architecture Technical Committee (SATC). Questions about this page or the SATC should be directed here.

Announcement: The AIAA Design Engineering Technical Committee (DETC) Aerospace Architecture Subcommittee (ASASC) has been granted full technical committee status. From January 2008, the group will break off from the DETC and meet separately as the Space Architecture Technical Committee (SATC).

spacearchitect.org is a website resource established for architects and industrial designers working and researching in the international field of space architecture and design. The SATC is the first formal organization of aerospace architects and industrial designers in the world and is recognized and supported by the AIAA, the world’s leading professional aerospace institute. SATC organizes aerospace architecture paper sessions at international space conferences, advises on the skills required to work in the aerospace architecture field, promotes research on aerospace architecture topics and provides liaison between aerospace engineering, architecture and industrial disciplines.

Over forty years have passed since the birth of human spaceflight. In that time, hundreds of people have travelled to Earth orbit as astronauts, cosmonauts or fare-paying tourists. Twelve astronauts have visited and worked on the surface of the moon. The first step towards the permanent human settlement of space has been taken with the International Space Station. More and more countries are participating in space with national initiatives ranging from ambitious to modest. Three countries have independent and successful human space programmes. Many more own satellites in orbit and use space as a means of communication and information exchange on a daily basis. The spin-off benefits of space research are significant and enduring with numerous positive contributions to the quality of life on Earth. The active participation of architects and industrial designers in space dates from the days of NASA’s SKYLAB orbiting laboratory in 1968 when, over objections from engineers, industrial designer Raymond Loewy persuaded NASA to include a window in the module so the astronauts could see out and observe the Earth. Today, a growing international community of architects and industrial desigers is at work in the space field. It is involved in all aspects of space, including planetary base definition and design, launch facilities planning and construction, underwater and simulated microgravity testing, space mission control support and extreme Earth environment habitat design and construction.

Whether you are an architect or industrial designer working in aerospace or just interested to learn more about the activities of SATC and its members, we invite you to explore this website. You are welcome to contact us with any questions.