College launches new Space Forward Frontiers Seminar with Northrop Grumman
This spring 2026, George Mason University College of Science launches the new Space Foward Frontiers Seminar Series in partnership with Northrop Grumman and George Mason's College of Engineering and Computing.
The Space Forward Frontiers Seminar, (PHYS 391/590, cross listed as ME 500) is a one credit, in-person learning opportunity for 50 George Mason students on Thursday afternoons open to all majors at either the undergraduate or graduate level interested in the growing space industry.
This course will present cutting-edge perspectives on topics in the modern-day space industry from a practical and/or academic standpoint via weekly lectures and will allow students to engage directly with industry professionals in the field. Seminars by George Mason faculty across the College of Science and College of Engineering and Computing, working with Northrop Grumman representatives, will highlight specific planned topics including: the background of the space industry, technology used by and enabled by the space industry, policy factors affecting the space industry, and perspectives on the near future of the space industry and the world connected to it.
For the first offering of this seminar, lectures will focus on crowding and events in the space environment. There are no prerequisites, and the course will not utilize textbooks making this learning experience extremely accessible to all. Participants might also have an interest to work on the next generation of space missions, including the recently announced NASA Landolt Mission, a multidisciplinary, multi-million dollar program which George Mason faculty lead.
In 2025, George Mason University launched its Grand Challenge Initiative (GCI), a comprehensive research framework, backed by an initial five-year, $15 million investment, to align university resources, faculty expertise, and educational programs around six interconnected solution areas addressing humanity’s ultimate grand challenge. Two of these grand challenge solutions, Advancing 21st-century education for all and Pioneering space exploration, research and collaboration are evidenced by this seminar offering in partnership with Northrop Grumman.
