鈥淚 want students to come to UCF knowing they can participate in an industry that鈥檚 about to take off, no matter what field they鈥檙e interested in. This is the place to launch the next stage of your career.鈥� 鈥� Greg Autry, 聽UCF’s associate provost for space commercialization

A national leader in online education, and the top supplier of talent to the nation鈥檚 aerospace and defense industries, UCF launched a in Spring 2026. It aims to meet the expanding needs of the booming industry on Florida鈥檚 Space Coast and around the world. Graduates will emerge ready to shape a fast-growing, high-impact global industry, applying their skills across aerospace, commercial space, government, startups and emerging tech.

鈥淲e have world-class researchers, direct connections to the space industry and the very best location,鈥� says Greg Autry, creator of the pioneering program and associate provost for space commercialization and strategy at UCF. 聽鈥淚 want students to come to UCF knowing they can participate in an industry that鈥檚 about to take off, no matter what field they鈥檙e interested in. This is the place to launch the next stage of your career.鈥�

The space MBA merges the university鈥檚 excellence in both space and online education to develop forward-thinking leaders ready to shape the future of the space sector. This part-time, fully online graduate business program spans 24 months and blends core MBA courses with four specialized electives in space entrepreneurship, governmental and commercial space finance, space leadership and the global space domain. With its flexible, asynchronous format, students can learn from anywhere on Earth 鈥� or even in orbit.

At the forefront of this future-ready pathway is Zaheer Ali, a new instructor in the College of Business, and program director of UCF鈥檚 space commercialization and strategy initiative. He spent more than a decade at NASA and previously led space efforts across the defense and national security enterprise.

“The space industry isn鈥檛 the future. It鈥檚 happening now. Our new space MBA will put talent at the center of that movement.鈥濃�� Paul Jarley, UCF College of Business dean

Ali is ready to guide the next generation of space business leaders at SpaceU 鈥� and he鈥檚 hoping to recruit students from every major to find their place in space.鈥淚鈥檓 here helping build what I think is the greatest program in the world for space

business,鈥� Ali says. 鈥淥ur students are 鈥� given direct access to leaders in every aspect of space, creating a space network for them that will be unmatched by graduates of any other program.鈥�

Through more than 25 years of providing highly ranked online degrees, UCF is a trusted source for innovative academic programs and pathways, and is recognized among the nation鈥檚 leaders in online education. Courses across more than 130 fully online degree programs are led by world-class faculty with extensive industry and academic experience, equipped to prepare students to succeed in their

careers and advance their fields. 鈥淭he space industry isn鈥檛 the future. It鈥檚 happening now. Our new space MBA will put talent at the center of that movement,鈥� says Paul Jarley, dean of the College of Business, which houses the program. As the business school at Florida鈥檚 Technological 海角直播, our goal is not just to fuel the talent pipeline, but to help shape the market 鈥� even if it鈥檚 in space.

Greg Autry, who serves as UCF鈥檚 associate provost for Space Commercialization and Strategy, is nationally recognized for his leadership in space research and innovation, including how the space landscape is evolving with the rapid expansion of private flights.

Autry has been nominated by President Trump to become chief financial officer of NASA. Pending confirmation by the U.S. Senate, he will be responsible for ensuring the financial health of the agency and will oversee all financial management, budget, strategic planning, and performance activities relating to NASA鈥檚 programs and operations.

鈥淥ur space agency has a long history of excellence in financial management, and I am looking forward to joining the incredible team at NASA,鈥� Autry said. 鈥淚 have been honored to help move UCF鈥檚 incredible space enterprise forward, and I hope to return after my service at NASA.鈥�

Autry, known as UCF鈥檚 鈥渟pace czar,鈥� is a leading researcher on entrepreneurship. Before joining UCF last year, he was director and clinical professor of Space Leadership, Policy and Business at the Thunderbird School of Global Management at Arizona State 海角直播.

Autry is a visiting professor at Imperial College London. He also serves as the vice president for space development at the National Space Society and chairs the Business Case sub-committee for NASA鈥檚 In Space Production Applications program (InSPA) which sends manufacturing experiments to the International Space Station.

At UCF, Autry has been working to lead the College of Business鈥� efforts to establish Executive and MBA programs in Space Commercialization while helping the university enhance and expand awareness of its many space programs.

UCF was founded in 1963 to provide talent for the space industry and today continues to be a top provider of talented graduates and research to a space economy expected to grow to more than $1 trillion in the 2030s and triple that by mid-century.

UCF is the nation鈥檚 top supplier of graduates to the aerospace and defense industry, according to Aviation Week Network.

鈥淪pace is the most important thing to happen in at least half a millennia,鈥� Autry said. 鈥淲e are charting a new future for humanity, improving the lives of billions, saving our biosphere, making our nation more secure, and creating jobs right now.鈥�

As space travel expands and becomes less exclusive to the wealthiest demographic, it will require more people to be educated and trained in space-specific medicine, business, psychology, science, engineering, even hospitality for cities with launch sites around the world.

鈥淚t won鈥檛 be long before careers are available for anyone like me who always wanted to be involved in space but couldn鈥檛 get into an astronaut program,鈥� Autry says. 鈥淭his is where the preparation will happen, at UCF, to enter an industry with unlimited potential.鈥�

鈥淚 get odd glances,鈥� Autry says, 鈥渂ut I鈥檓 usually going so fast that I have no idea what anyone is thinking.鈥�

Autry鈥檚 skateboard is also an inescapable analogy. It鈥檚 made from upcycled scrap carbon fiber from space companies like SpaceX and Virgin Galactic. Autry brought his board with him to UCF鈥檚 College of Business from the west coast earlier in 2024 to start a space commercialization program and to begin a university-wide effort to bolster the SpaceU brand.

鈥淲e currently have a logo and a football game [that help] bring awareness to [UCF鈥檚 identity] of SpaceU,鈥� Autry says. 鈥淸We want to make it more well known this is the place to be] because we already have world-class researchers, direct connections to the space industry and this unique location. I want students to come to UCF knowing they can participate in an industry that鈥檚 about to take off, no matter what field they鈥檙e interested in. This is the place to be.鈥�

As Florida鈥檚 premier engineering and technology university, UCF was founded in 1963 to fuel the nearby space industry. Faculty and researchers across the university contribute to NASA missions such as OSIRIS-Rex and New Horizons, as well as the Artemis program. UCF is home to the Exolith Lab, where asteroid, Martian and lunar regolith simulants are created for space researchers worldwide, and the world鈥檚 largest lunar regolith test bin is located. UCF alums make up nearly 29% of Kennedy Space Center (KSC) employees, with their expertise ranking from engineering to physics and marketing. Future Knights at KSC may include experts in space medicine, as UCF is developing a new program dedicated to the field, as well as another industry Autry is helping shape curriculum for.

Autry鈥檚 enthusiasm is based on a vision for the future merging with present-day reality. Prior to UCF, he launched the world鈥檚 first space leadership, business and policy program at Arizona State 海角直播鈥檚 globally recognized Thunderbird School. As much as he enjoyed leading the progress and his life out west, Autry could not pass up the opportunity to launch a second business program around space at a university near the Space Coast, where a graduate program beginning in the Fall of 2025 and an undergraduate program to follow are already poised to lead the way into an all-new realm.

鈥淚鈥檓 confident it won鈥檛 take us long to reach our lofty goals,鈥� Autry says. 鈥淲e鈥檙e taking the Elon Musk approach: grow it quickly and innovate relentlessly to stay ahead of everyone else. We can do that at UCF because we have a huge competitive advantage 鈥� geographically and with so much local demand in the space business. I鈥檝e been passionate about space my entire life, so this is a remarkable time for me, personally and professionally.鈥�

Like so many kids who watched the first Apollo moon landings, Autry dreamed about life in space. Those thoughts never vanished.

鈥淭he missions to the moon were life changing for me at a young age,鈥� he says. 鈥淲atching and reading about space became my escape.鈥�

On Sept. 8, 1974, Autry stood at the Snake River Canyon in Idaho to watch Evel Knievel attempt to clear the quarter-mile-wide chasm in a specially designed Skycycle. Despite the failed jump, Knievel became a hero to Autry for his willingness to take flight in the closest thing to a personal rocket he鈥檇 ever seen. At the 海角直播 of California, Irvine and then 海角直播 of Southern California, Autry studied the commercial space industry before any other management scholar had recognized its significance. He spent several years teaching a summer course in space entrepreneurship for Florida Tech. While teaching at Arizona State, he would bring students to visit Cape Canaveral and Kennedy Space Center where they could see the growing Florida commercial space businesses up close. Autry also visited the area during his tenure as NASA鈥檚 White House Liaison and while serving on the Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Board at the FAA. The East Coast vantage point continually rekindled his passion for space launch.

鈥淲hen I heard UCF was serious about doing something amazing in space commercialization and taking SpaceU to another level, it meant the university鈥檚 vision aligned with my own,鈥� Autry says. 鈥淚 wanted to be part of the action. This is a rare opportunity to participate in something transformational and to influence a new generation of space leaders.鈥�

Now that he lives in Florida, Autry can take breaks from his work to watch rocket launches from his dock in Melbourne. He views these frequent events with the same awe he鈥檚 had since the first moon landings, only now he also carries a unique business perspective. Usually, he knows someone who has a payload or an investment on board.

鈥淚f you鈥檙e in Central Florida, space is business. Everyone should be excited about it. The space industry creates tens of thousands of jobs and a commercial economy worth billions of dollars. Missions are often about communications, but they also drive crop yields for agriculture, management of fisheries, the monitoring of oil reserves and real estate, manufacturing, robotics, efficient transportation of goods and products 鈥� we could go on and on.鈥�

As space travel expands and becomes less exclusive to the wealthiest demographic, it will require more people to be educated and trained in space-specific medicine, business, psychology, science, engineering, even hospitality for cities with launch sites around the world.

鈥淚t won鈥檛 be long before careers are available for anyone like me who always wanted to be involved in space but couldn鈥檛 get into an astronaut program,鈥� Autry says. 鈥淭his is where the preparation will happen, at UCF, to enter an industry with unlimited potential.鈥�

Autry is among those who believe space will produce the world鈥檚 first trillionaire. Several global financial services project the space economy alone will generate $3 trillion in revenues by 2050. Autry thinks those numbers are probably too conservative.

鈥淭he growth in space won鈥檛 follow a typical linear curve,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 reasonable that in the next 15 to 20 years the space economy will exceed the entire U.S. economy. Keep in mind, our first space race was driven by the government during the Cold War. This second space race is inspired by private enterprise. This is entirely different from anything we鈥檝e seen. And UCF 鈥� SpaceU 鈥� is literally right in the middle of it. That鈥檚 why I鈥檓 so enthusiastic to be here on the front end, and I鈥檓 encouraging everyone to join us for the ride.鈥�