Engage with MIT AeroAstro

AeroAstro’s 2026 Strategic Plan outlines a bold and forward-thinking approach to our department’s investments in innovation, education, and leadership over the next 5-10 years. We need your help to achieve our goals and continue to lead the field. We invite you to explore the many ways you can engage with AeroAstro students, faculty and labs, research facilities, and more to push the limits of what’s possible in aerospace. 

Want to start a conversation about getting involved with AeroAstro? Reach out to us at aa-alumni@mit.edu!

Support our mission

In the MIT Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, we look ahead by looking up. We lead innovation in aerospace systems and technologies that have world-changing impact. Educating the next generation of leaders, researchers, engineers, and entrepreneurs who will shape the future of aerospace, we foster a diverse, creative, and international community built on technical excellence and integrity. 

Explore our giving page to learn how you can support this mission through any of the following:

  • AeroAstro Development Fund
  • Small Satellite Collaborative Facility Renovation
  • Graduate Student Support and Fellowships
  • Undergraduate Education
  • And more!

Cultivate the next generation of leaders in aerospace

AeroAstro has been named the top aerospace engineering program in the world for well over a decade. Academic and industry leaders consistently recognize Course 16’s excellence in preparing both undergraduates and graduate students for a wide variety of careers through an education that focuses on strong fundamentals, systems engineering, and creative problem solving. 

Alumni engagement with our students is invaluable for their professional development. Reach out today (aa-alumni@mit.edu) if you are interested in any of the following:

Mentor Course 16 graduate students
Recruit interns and new employees
Give a guest lecture or presentation

Collaborate on research

Working together with the public and private sectors, we aim to expand the benefits of aerospace to preserve our environment, strengthen global security, contribute to a thriving economy, and explore other worlds in the service of the nation and for the betterment of humanity.  

Our faculty and research labs regularly collaborate with academic peers, industry leaders, government agencies, and NGOs to take on the most pressing challenges and drive forward innovation in aerospace.

We are open to proposals and questions across all of our core competencies, and are particularly interested in projects and collaborations on our Innovation Focus Areas:

AI-Enabled Aerospace Design and Operations

  • Certifiable, safe AI and autonomy for mission critical settings
  • AI-accelerated design, engineering, manufacturing and test certification
  • Human-AI teaming, collaborative autonomy, and human-in-the-loop and on-the-loop
  • AI-driven efficiencies and climate mitigations

Aviation for the Next Century

  • Air traffic control (ATC) of the future 
  • Aircraft design, including autonomy, sensing, and AI integration
  • Advanced propulsion systems and next generation energy carriers
  • Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), urban air mobility, drones

Leading-Edge Satellites and Systems

  • Sensing and high bandwidth communications
  • Hardware including edge computing in space
  • Onboard autonomy
  • Space situational awareness and space traffic management

Long-Duration Space Exploration

  • Reusable launch vehicles and hypersonics
  • Human health and productivity in space
  • Nuclear technologies for surface power and in-space propulsion
  • In-situ resource utilization and manufacturing

Reach out today (aa-alumni@mit.edu) to learn how we might work together!