Matthew Isakowitz Commercial Space Scholarship Grant

Matthew Isakowitz Commercial Space Scholarship Grant

Status: ACTIVE
Funder: Matthew Isakowitz Foundation Programs (MIFP)
Amount: US $1,000
Last Updated: November 04, 2025

Summary

The Matthew Isakowitz Commercial Space Scholarship, presented by the Commercial Space Federation and the Matthew Isakowitz Foundation Programs, is an annual scholarship aimed at college students passionate about the commercial space industry. Recipients are awarded $1,000 and gain internship consideration and networking opportunities with industry leaders. The program emphasizes the importance of space policy knowledge, encouraging students to follow Matthew Isakowitz's legacy of kindness and generosity while pursuing careers in this evolving field.

Overview

MATTHEW ISAKOWITZ FOUNDATION PROGRAMS (MIFP) The Matthew Isakowitz Foundation Programs (MIFP) is a non-profit organization honoring the memory of an engineer, entrepreneur, and extraordinary individual whose passion for commercial space exploration led to great strides in the industry and inspired all who knew him. MIFP seeks to instill the next generation with Matthew’s enthusiasm for bettering humankind through space exploration. Programs and initiatives to date include the Matthew Isakowitz Fellowship Program, the Matthew Isakowitz Commercial Space Scholarship, and the Matthew Isakowitz Rising Star Award. Matthew Isakowitz Commercial Space Scholarship Overview of Program: Presented by the Commercial Space Federation (CSF) in partnership with the Matthew Isakowitz Foundation Programs, the Matthew Isakowitz Commercial Space Scholarship (MCSS) is an annual scholarship for college students who demonstrate the passion and attributes to shape the future of the growing commercial space industry through space policies, an area that Matthew was instrumental in impacting from its earliest days. Recipients receive a $1,000 scholarship award, consideration by CSF and its member companies for a summer internship in the Washington DC area, and unique opportunities to network with industry leaders and major policy makers. Matthew Isakowitz demonstrated that studying, understanding, and working in space policy can bring greater impact to any work in commercial space, from engineering to program management and beyond. For students with a career interest in commercial space, the MCSS program seeks to empower you with this knowledge of space policy as a complement to your journey so you can follow Matthew’s example of kindness, generosity, and bringing a deliberately well-rounded perspective to your work. Ad Astra! How many scholars will be chosen? We expect to select ~5 scholars for the inaugural Class of 2025.

Eligibility

You can learn more about this opportunity by visiting the funder's website. Who is eligible to apply?The short answer is: anyone whois a US Person, is currently pursuing a bachelors, masters, or doctoral degree as of December 2024, will have completed at least three years of undergraduate studies by Summer 2025, and is interested in pursuing a career in the commercial space industry is eligible to be selected for our Class of 2025.To give yourself the best odds of succeeding in your application, you should have the intention of pursuing a full-time career in the commercial space industry – however, as stated above, you can be enrolled in any major or concentration.If you anticipate receiving your bachelors degree in the time period between submitting this application and the beginning of the summer, you are still eligible.Similarly, while students who have only completed 90 credits (3 years of work) from AP/IB credits or dual-enrollment programs towards an undergraduate program are eligible to apply, it may be more difficult to compete against our talented applicant pool with more educational experience.What is a “US Person?”Due to ITAR regulations governing our host companies, the MCSS program is open to individuals who meet the definition of US Persons (US citizen, permanent resident, asylee, or refugee).Per ITAR regulations: U.S. Person - a natural person who is a lawful permanent resident as defined in 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(20) or who is a protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3). It also means any corporation, business association, partnership, society, trust, or any other entity, organization or group that is incorporated to do business in the U.S. It also includes any governmental (federal, state or local) entity. Typically this includes U.S. citizens, Lawful Permanent Residents (Green Card holders), or protected individuals such as refugees or asylees. What is the selection process?Every complete application received by the deadline will be thoroughly reviewed by multiple members of our Selection Committee. All applicants will be assessed based on their subject matter knowledge, their experience to date, their diversity of interests/education/experience/background, their academic record – and all of the other character strengths demonstrated by our program’s namesake, Matthew Isakowitz. The most highly qualified candidates will be selected for a telephone interview with a member of our Selection Committee. These phone interviews will be conducted in January 2025. When all telephone interviews are completed, we will select our finalists and make our preliminary matches between candidates and Hosts. This match process will incorporate each applicant’s background and interests – but will also incorporate similar input from our Host companies as well as our Selection Committee’s expert knowledge. Each finalist will be paired with at least one potential Host. Finalists will be notified that they have advanced and will be paired with their potential Host(s) in mid-January. In late January, Hosts will conduct telephone interviews with finalists. Each Host company will have its own interview process – some will require one interview, some multiple interviews, and some may desire a work sample. After that interview window closes, each Host is asked to submit feedback and rankings for each Finalist they have been matched with. In February, our Selection Committee will make our final selections for the Class of 2025.Do you offer scholarships during the Fall and Spring semesters? No. For now, at least, all of our Scholars work at their Host Institution during the summer. However, this is subject to change in the future based on interest and host availability.