Thunderbird Initiative for Space Leadership, Policy and Business

The Thunderbird Initiative for Space Leadership, Policy and Business is based at the ASU California Center in downtown Los Angeles, located at the historic Herald Examiner building. Southern California is the historic heart of American aerospace, the site of two major NASA research facilities (JPL and Armstrong), home of the United States Space Force Space Systems Command and the Aerospace Corporation. It is also the hub for the booming "new space" startup ecosystem.

As always, Thunderbird approaches space with a global mindset and presence. The Initiative engages the worldwide space community via Thunderbird and ASU centers in London, Dubai, Washington D.C. and beyond. The Initiative presents and exhibits at major space conferences and with deep-dive site visits by our #SpaceBird cohorts.

The Thunderbird School of Global Management at Arizona State University was proud to host “The Road to Artemis” an unprecedented panel discussion of the development and implementation of the Artemis program including top leaders from across three Presidential administrations.  This panel preceded the historic Artemis 1 mission.  Artemis 1 included the first launch of the SLS (the most powerful rocket ever built) that will send the Orion space capsule on a pathfinder journey around the Moon and return it safely to Earth. The Artemis program will return humans to the Moon and land the first woman and first person of color on the lunar surface by as early as 2025. Learn how NASA, commercial, and international partners were able to collaborate, further enabling new knowledge and opportunities across the space sector, as the U.S. and Artemis partner nations make a long-awaited return to deep-space.