Welcome to ISSF

The IAASS Space Safety foundation (ISSF) was legally established 9 June 2007 in the State of California (USA) under the name of International Space Safety Foundation. The ISSF is a non-profit organisation dedicated to supporting the scientific advancement in the field of space systems safety design and operations.

In 2024 the current name of “IAASS Space Safety Foundation (ISSF)”was adopted by the Board to underline the link between the Foundation and the IAASS (International Association for the Advancement of Space Safety) based on unity of intent, close coordination of educational activities, and sharing of programs. The ISSF is primarily focused on soliciting and collecting donations, and on managing funds to execute its own educational program, and to financially support the IAASS educational activities (i.e., books, journal, conferences, and safety certificate program).

Mission and Goals

Space safety risk is growing as the space industry is expanding rapidly worldwide. Safety of space missions refers to the general public safety (on ground, on air, and at sea), to the safety of launch range personnel, and to the safety of humans on-board. Space safety encompasses the safeguard of critical infrastructure and assets in space, and the protection of the ground, atmospheric, and orbital environment from various kind of pollutants, from chemical and radioactive materials to space debris.

The ISSF mission is to help shaping and advancing an international space safety culture, including technical and organizational elements, that can contribute toward making space missions, vehicles, stations, extraterrestrial habitats, equipment, and payloads safer for the general public, ground personnel, crews and flight participants. The IAASS Space Safety Foundation (ISSF) is dedicated to the promotion of space safety, through sponsoring of research and development activities, support to the development of performance-based space safety standards and of modern compliance certification services, support to excellent academic and training programs, to motivational campaigns including recognition of outstanding contributions to the space safety field, and assistance to students and professionals to acquire or further develop the specific knowledge. The primary mission of the ISSF is to collect and make available to universities, colleges and researchers more funds for related education programs and advanced studies. For such purpose, the ISSF will actively liaise with corporations, space agencies, and individual donors.