AIAA International Space Operations and Support Award

Awards and Recognition Program of the International SpaceOps Organization

Program Description and Administration



1 BACKGROUND

When an individual or team goes to extraordinary measures to save a spacecraft,

complete the objectives of a mission when all seems lost, or create a new method of operations

that could revolutionize the way space ops are conducted, there should be some form of

recognition other than the self-satisfaction of a job well done. The AIAA through its system of

awards is able to recognize individuals (or teams) in the aerospace field whose efforts deserve a

reward and international recognition. It is considered to be very prestigious to receive such an

AIAA award.

The AIAA International Space Operations and Support Award is presented every two

years (in odd-numbered years) at the AIAA Space Conference (e.g., SPACE 2005) or at another

appropriate AIAA Conference. This award is presented for outstanding efforts in overcoming

space operations problems and assuring success, and recognizes those teams or individuals whose

exceptional contributions were critical to an anomaly recovery, crew rescue, or saving a space

mission. Nominations for this award are made through an on-line application on the AIAA web

site. The qualified nominations are forwarded to the Space Operations and Support Technical

Committee (SOSTC), which is responsible for selecting the winning nomination. The AIAA

headquarters is informed of the selection, and then is responsible for preparing the actual physical

award for presentation at the selected conference.

After due consideration, the Executive Committee and Committee-at-Large approved the

establishment of an awards and recognition program for the International SpaceOps Organization

at the Rome meeting in December, 2005. It was agreed that such a program would provide good

publicity and increase the stature of the SpaceOps Organization to bestow awards (similar to the

AIAA SOS award) every two years during the banquet of the SpaceOps Conference. It would be

very prestigious and rewarding to the recipients to receive the recognition of their peers in front

of the international community for their extraordinary efforts in space operations. There is a

natural fit for this award in conjunction with the SOSTC award, since that award is in odd years

and the SpaceOps award would be in even years. If done in cooperation, then it could be ensured

that the same recipient would not receive both awards, thus increasing the number of recipients.

Many professional organizations also provide awards for long and/or particularly

meritorious service to the organization or industry. These awards can be used to recognize

members of the organization who have provided exceptional service to the organization, or to

individuals whose career has had a major impact on the space world rather than one spectacular

event, as was expected for the previously mentioned award.

The SpaceOps committees in Rome approved the creation of a system of awards, with

three initial awards: (1) “International SpaceOps Outstanding Achievement Award,” (2)

“International SpaceOps Distinguished Service Medal,” and (3) “Symposium Best Paper” award.

The Executive Committee also established an Awards Group (AG) subcommittee with the charter

to establish the award criteria and procedures, oversee the initial design and biennial production

of the awards, and carry out the selection process. The AG subcommittee shall be formed during

the CAL meeting held at the biennial conference. Initial members of the Awards Group were:

Trevor Sorensen, University of Hawaii (Chair) Megan Scheidt, AIAA (Secretariat)

Andy Dowen, NASA JPL

Junjiro Nakahara & Narita Kaneaki, JAXA

Kathy Kelly, NOAA

Paolo Maldari, ESOC/ESA

Surendra Parashar, CSA

Jean Marc Soula & Geneviève Campan, CNES





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2 DESCRIPTION OF AWARDS



2.1 International SpaceOps Award for Outstanding Achievement (AOA)



2.1.1 Award Criteria

This award is presented for outstanding efforts in overcoming space operations and/or support

challenges, and recognizes those teams or individuals whose exceptional contributions were

critical to the success of one or more space missions.



The major areas of consideration for the award (which may be separate awards sometime in the

future) are:

i. Critical to an anomaly recovery, crew rescue, or saving of a space mission.

ii. Development of a new paradigm that has significant effect on the space operations field.

iii. Instrumental in significantly reducing the cost of space operations.



2.1.2 Award Description

a. A trophy shall be awarded for either a team or an individual. If for a team, the host

organization shall receive the trophy. The trophy shall be engraved with the name,

organization and/or names of team members, and date of the award. The trophy shall

have a presentation box (Fig. 1).

b. A certificate (signed by SpaceOps Chair of the Conference and Awards Group Chair)

shall be presented to each individual on which is printed a citation of up to 25 words.

The certificate shall be in a presentation folder.

c. The recipient (team leader) shall be offered a complimentary full registration to the

conference at which the award will be presented. If the team leader is unable to

attend the conference, then they may send another team member in their place with

the complimentary registration, as long as that person will be able to receive the

award at the awards ceremony.

d. The awardee will be invited to write a paper about the event for which the

award was made to be reviewed and published in the Space Operations

Communicator.



2.1.3 Specific Rules and Regulations

a. The SpaceOps Outstanding Achievement award shall be biennial and presented at the

biennial SpaceOps Conference (typically at the banquet).

b. Only one (1) award shall be made biennially.

c. A maximum of 10 members may be on a nominated team, and a team leader must be

designated.

d. The SpaceOps Organization shall issue a call for nominations approximately one year

before the conference. SpaceOps should not call for nominations until the AIAA

Space Operations and Support award has been presented in order to avoid confusion.

e. Past recipients of the AIAA Space Operations and Support Award are not eligible for

the SpaceOps Outstanding Achievement Award unless it is for a distinctly different

accomplishment.

f. The event for which the award is bestowed shall not have occurred more than five (5)

years prior to the conference at which the award will be presented. A waiver for this

rule may be granted upon a majority vote by the Awards Group subcommittee

(minimum of three voting members).

g. Anyone may nominate candidates for this award. Neither the nominator nor the

nominee needs to be a member of SpaceOps or AIAA.





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h. A minimum of three (3) candidates must be nominated via the SpaceOps nomination

process in order for the award to be presented. A waiver for this rule may be granted

upon a majority vote by the Awards Group subcommittee (minimum of three voting

members).

i. Three individuals (excluding from the local organization of the nominee or

nominated team) must provide letters of endorsement for each proposed nomination.

j. Qualified nominations shall be accepted in the year the nominations open, then

carried over for two years to be included in the next nomination cycle, thus shall be

considered for a total of three years. This rule does not overrule Rule 2.1.3 f.





2.1.4 Process

a. A "Call for Nominations" is issued about one year before the conference. This call

shall appear on the SpaceOps websites (both the home and the conference), in

AIAA’s Aerospace America, and in the Call for Papers of the next conference.

b. Nominations for this award are due to AIAA/SpaceOps by February 1st of the year

the award is to be presented.

c. The nomination procedure shall be as follows:

i. Select the “International SpaceOps Outstanding Achievement Award” from the

appropriate (TBD) menu on the SpaceOps website

ii. Input information about the nominee, whether an individual or team.

iii. Complete the nomination process, which means signed nomination form, a

minimum of three signed letters of references, and supporting materials

(including resume, if for an individual). Ideally nominations should be no longer

than 10 pages excluding the nomination form and letters of reference from

nomination endorsers.

iv. The endorsers may not be from the same local organization (up to center level) or

team of the nominee.

v. Input a citation that describes the specific documented contributions of the

nominee that can be used for the award. This citation should be 25 words or less.

vi. Nominations may be submitted via fax or as a pdf email attachment only if the

signature on the nomination form and letters of reference transmit. Otherwise a

signed hard copy shall be necessary.

d. Once the nominations are submitted to SpaceOps, they shall be forwarded to the

SpaceOps Awards Group Subcommittee Chair by AIAA to begin the selection

process.

e. Once the nominations are received, usually in February after the nominations close,

the Chair of the Awards Group shall screen the nominations and submit a list of the

qualified nominations to the membership of the Awards Group for a vote.

i. The voting shall be conducted secretly via email to the AIAA Secretariat Liaison

to the AG by March 1. The AIAA Secretariat liaison shall tabulate the results and

report them to the Awards Group members.

ii. Each AG member shall have one vote that can be used to help select the award

winner.

iii. AG members whose local organization (center-wide or less, e.g. JPL member

must recluse if JPL nominee, but NASA HQ member does not) has a nominee

must recluse themselves. The award winner must garner enough votes to have a

total number, which represents a majority of the eligible AG membership.

iv. In the event that a single nominee does not receive a majority vote, then there

shall be a subsequent runoff vote. In the event that the runoff vote results in a tie,

then the SpaceOps CAL shall select the winner using the same procedures (i-iii).



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v. The winning nomination selected by the Awards Group shall be announced to the

ExComm and CAL by the AG Chair via e-mail.

vi. The ExComm and CAL shall verify or reject the selection by secret e-mail to the

AIAA Secretariat liaison. AG members who are also members of these

committees may also submit their verification choice.

vii. Immediately after selection, the name(s) of individual/team to receive the Space

Operations Award shall be forwarded immediately to the Director of AIAA

Awards and Honors for preparation of the awards and not less than sixty (60)

days before the start of the conference.

f. The winning individual/team shall be notified as soon as possible after selection so

that they can make plans to receive the award at the conference.

g. The award shall presented by a distinguished conference guest or SpaceOps chairman

during the next conference banquet or other designated time.









Figure 1: Prototype of AOA Trophy (wording is incorrect)









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2.2 International Space Ops Distinguished Service Medal (DSM)



2.2.1 Award Criteria

This award is presented to give unique recognition to an individual member of the international

Space Operations community who has distinguished himself or herself with service to the Space

Ops organization or to the field of space operations and support. The recipient shall be an

individual who has shown particular dedication to the interests of the organization or space ops

field by making significant and continuing contributions over an extended period of time.



2.2.2 Award Description

a. Medal with neck ribbon of blue (ocean), green (land), sky blue (atmosphere), black

(space) and yellow (sun/stars) stripes; and a lapel pin of the medal (Fig. 2). The

medal shall be engraved on the reverse with the name of the award, the name of the

recipient, and date of the award. The medal and lapel pin shall have a leather-like

presentation case.

b. An 11” x 14”certificate (signed by SpaceOps Chair of the Conference and Awards

Group Chair) shall be presented to each recipient. The certificate, on which is printed

a citation of up to 25 words, shall be contained in a leather-like presentation folder.

c. The recipient shall be offered a complimentary full registration to the conference at

which the award will be presented. If the recipient is unable to attend the conference,

then this complimentary registration is not transferable.



2.2.3 Specific Rules and Regulations

a. The SpaceOps Distinguished Service Medal award shall be biennial and presented at

the biennial SpaceOps Conference (typically at the banquet).

b. Up to three (3) awards may be made biennially. No award needs to be made at any

given conference.

c. The SpaceOps Organization shall issue a call for nominations approximately one year

before the conference. However, the nomination process is continuous and

nominations can be made at any time regardless of the conference cycle.

d. Only one candidate needs to be nominated via the AIAA/SpaceOps nomination

process in order for the award to be presented.

e. Anyone may nominate candidates for this award.

f. Each nominator can nominate up to three (3) recipients.

g. No sitting member of the Awards Group Subcommittee shall be eligible to receive

the DSM.

h. Length of service to space operations shall be an important factor in the selection of

candidates. The length of service includes all space operations activities and not just

to the SpaceOps Organization, although the time of service to the SpaceOps

Organization shall weigh greater than the time of other service (i.e., of more value).



2.2.4 Process

a. A "Call for Nominations" is issued about one year before the conference. This call

shall appear on the SpaceOps websites (both the home and the conference), in

AIAA’s Aerospace America, and in the Call for Papers of the next conference.

b. Nominations for this award are due to AIAA/SpaceOps by February 1st of the year

the award is to be presented.

c. The nomination procedure shall be as follows:







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i. Select the “International SpaceOps Distinguished Service Award” from the

appropriate (TBD) menu on the SpaceOps website.

ii. Input information about the nominee.

iii. Provide a one page summary of the accomplishments/activities which serve as

the basis for the nomination.

iv. Submit a resume.

v. Include three letters of endorsement (these can currently be emailed directly to

SpaceOps by the submitters). Only one endorser may be from the same local

organization (up to center level) as the nominee.

vi. Input a citation that describes the specific documented contributions of the

nominee that can be used for the award. This citation should be 25 words or less

(note: the 25-word limit can be waived by AG majority vote if desired on a case

by case basis).

vii. Nominations may be submitted via fax or as a pdf email attachment only if the

signature on the nomination form and letters of reference transmit. Otherwise a

signed hard copy shall be necessary.

d. Once the nominations are submitted to SpaceOps, they shall be forwarded to the

SpaceOps Awards Group Subcommittee Chair by AIAA to begin the selection

process.

h. Once the nominations are received, usually in February after the nominations close,

the Awards Group Chair shall screen the nominations and submit a list of qualified

nominations to the membership of the Awards Group for a vote.

i. The voting shall be conducted secretly via email to the AIAA Secretariat Liaison

to the AG by March 1. The AIAA Secretariat liaison shall tabulate the results and

report them to the Awards Group members.

ii. From the list of nominees, each AG member should indicate the approval or

disapproval for each nomination. They may each only approve up to three

nominations.

iii. The selection process must result in no more than three selected nominations. In

case of a tie resulting in more than three selected nominations, then there shall be

another round of voting for those nominations that survived the previous round of

voting.

iv. The winning nomination selected by the Awards Group shall be announced to the

ExComm and CAL by the AG Chair via e-mail.

v. The ExComm and CAL shall verify or reject the selections by secret e-mail to the

AIAA Secretariat liaison. AG members who are also members of these

committees may also submit their verification choice.

vi. The nomination(s) should be approved by the CAL by March 1. A simple

majority vote is acceptable for approval.

vii. Immediately after selection, the name(s) of the recipient(s) to receive the

SpaceOps Distinguished Service Award shall be forwarded immediately to the

Director of AIAA Awards and Honors for preparation of the award(s) and no

later than sixty (60) days before the start of the conference.

e. The designated recipient(s) shall be notified as soon as possible after selection so that

they can make plans to receive the award at the conference.

f. The award(s) shall presented by a distinguished conference guest or SpaceOps

chairman during the next conference banquet or other designated time.









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Figure 2: Obverse of SpaceOps Distinguished Service Medal with Neck Ribbon









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2.3 Best Paper of Conference (Symposium)



2.3.1 Award Criteria

This award is to recognize the most outstanding paper of the conference. The paper should be

exceptional in technical content, have an important impact on the field of space operations, or

report on important historical events that are of importance to the community. The quality of the

written presentation may be considered.



2.3.2 Award Description

a. A certificate (signed by SpaceOps Chair) on which is printed a citation of up to 25

words shall be presented to each author of the winning papers (1st, 2nd, and 3rd

place). The certificate shall be contained in a presentation folder.

b. The winning papers shall be included (with required modifications) in the book of

best papers of the conference as published by AIAA (if any), and the Space

Operations Communicator online journal.



2.3.3 Specific Process, Rules and Regulations

a. Three (3) awards shall be made for each conference, one for 1st place, one for 2nd

place, and one for 3rd place.

b. The author(s) of the papers shall receive their certificates at the conference during a

designated awards ceremony (closing ceremony preferred).

c. The Best Paper Award selection shall be performed by the Enhanced Technical

Program Committee (ETPC), since the ETPC is composed by sessions Chairs and

Co-chairs, whose tasks, among others will be to analyze in some detail the submitted

final papers in order to prepare for the questions/answers slot following each

presentation.

d. The selection process shall be in three major steps as follows:

Step 1): Chair and Co-chair of a session (e.g. SW Development I) agree on the

best paper for that session.

Step 2): Chairs of sessions on same topic (e.g. SW Development I, SW

Development II, SW Development III etc.) analyze the papers selected in Step 1,

agree on the best paper for the topic and select a 'representative' to defend their

selection.

Step 3): 'Representatives' of the different topics to analyze the papers selected in

Step 2 and to elect first, second and third best papers.

e. In view of the experience gained during the conference preparation, it is

recommended that ‘Representatives’ be ETPC members already involved in the

Nominal TPC (this is however not a ‘must’).

f. All papers shall be considered equally, regardless of whether they are designated for

poster presentation (as long as the paper requested to be in the poster

presentation or was put there by the TPC because it was a better forum for

presentation rather than orally and not because of inferior quality) or oral

presentation.

g. Plenary papers or papers placed in the poster presentation because of inferior

quality as determined by the TPC shall not be considered.

h. No individual shall be eligible for the award for more than one paper in which the

person is the primary author.

i. The paper must be presented at the conference for it to be eligible to receive the

award. (Presence of a presenter and presentation materials is considered to be

sufficient as proof of presentation).



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j. The quality of the presentations shall not be considered in selecting the winning

papers.

k. The names of the recipient(s) along with the title of their papers shall be forwarded to

the Director of AIAA Awards and Honors for preparation of the certificates. If this

does not occur in time for the individualized certificates to be prepared for

presentation at the conference, then generic temporary certificates shall be presented,

to be replaced by the final certificates after the conference.



3 AWARDS ADMINISTRATION



3.1 Program Administration

The AIAA Honors and Awards Program (via the SpaceOps Secretariat) shall administer the

proposed SpaceOps Awards. The Administrator role shall be:

 Collect nominations.

 Manage financial aspects of awards with the SpaceOps Secretariat. The cost for

manufacture of the awards and for administration of the awards shall be borne initially by

Award Administrator. The SpaceOps Secretariat shall reimburse AIAA through

conference revenue, contributions (if necessary), etc. If there are insufficient funds to

cover, then the deficit shall be covered by AIAA Conference Products until the next

conference. The recurring costs of the Awards and Recognition Program shall be covered

through the symposia revenue or other organization funds.

 After 1 February deadline, distribute all complete nominations for Outstanding

Achievement to SpaceOps in even years and SOSTC in odd years.

 Announce recipient in Aerospace America, appropriate web sites, etc.

 Produce appropriate award (trophy, medal, certificate, etc.)

 Coordinate logistics for award ceremony.

 Formally notify recipient and provide information on the award presentation.



3.2 SpaceOps Awards Schedule

1 February Nomination Deadline

15 February Distribute Nominations to AG

1 March Voting by CAL

No later than 15 March Notify Secretariat of award recipient

1 June SpaceOps Conference





4 NEW AWARDS



Other awards that have been suggested for implementation by SpaceOps include:

 Small Satellite Award - this would recognize distinguished achievement in the operations of

small satellites, which often do not get the publicity associated with their big brothers. This

award could either be separate or a category of the Outstanding Achievement Award.

 The different categories listed in the criteria of the Outstanding Achievement Award could

each be broken out into individual awards.

 Best Poster of Conference – to give incentive and recognition for those people who make

poster presentations.



4.1 Process for Adopting New Awards

4.1.1 The Awards Group may nominate new awards, but they must be approved by a majority

vote of the ExComm plus CAL.



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4.1.2 The approval of new awards must consider the financial impact of producing and

administering the awards, which data should be prepared by the AG with cooperation of

the AIAA administration and submitted to the ExComm and CAL at the time of

nomination for acceptance.

4.1.3 The nomination of the award shall also include a written justification for the need or

value of such an award.









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