ASU Space Collective aims to connect commercial sector and university initiatives

ASU is bringing business and the space community together through the ASU Space Collective. Businesses in the aerospace industry have a new way to connect, advance shared goals, and leverage Arizona’s economy.

“The ASU Space Collective is a brand-new program that we launched in the fall of last year, and it attracts member organizations from the commercial sector to work closely with ASU and Arizona more broadly and understand their business goals and understanding how we can support their growth and connecting those needs to opportunities at ASU and across the state of Arizona,” explained Jessica Rousset, Director of the ASU Interplanetary Initiative.

“We believe that investing in the commercial space sector, for Arizona to take an active role in this, is going to be very important and beneficial to all of the state,” continued Rousset.

The idea for the ASU Space Collective came about from last year’s inaugural Arizona Space Summit, when the Interplanetary Initiative noticed the efficiency of bringing leaders of the sector together.

“It’s important to understand how this is connected to our daily lives, because it is,” said Rousset.

“Space is our future. The space industry, of course, generates high-value jobs across the continuum. From operators to Ph.D. scientists. It generates so much innovation. We are the beneficiaries of tons of innovations that come from investments in space: the internet, GPS, and so many products that exist in our daily lives,” Rousset said.