Rockets blast. Satellites connect. Space tourism rises. Nearly every week, a breakthrough pushes the boundaries of what’s possible beyond Earth. By 2035, the global space economy — spanning launchers, defense systems, satellites and more — is projected to soar to $1.8 trillion, according to the World Economic Forum. UCF is preparing skilled business professionals to guide it.
“I want students to come to UCF knowing they can participate in an industry that’s about to take off, no matter what field they’re interested in. This is the place to launch the next stage of your career.” — Greg Autry, UCF’s associate provost for space commercialization
A national leader in online education, and the top supplier of talent to the nation’s aerospace and defense industries, UCF launched a new space MBA program in Spring 2026. It aims to meet the expanding needs of the booming industry on Florida’s 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.
“We have world-class researchers, direct connections to the space industry and the very best location,” says Greg Autry, creator of the pioneering program and associate provost for space commercialization and strategy at UCF. “I want students to come to UCF knowing they can participate in an industry that’s about to take off, no matter what field they’re interested in. This is the place to launch the next stage of your career.”
The space MBA merges the university’s 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 — 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’s 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’t the future. It’s happening now. Our new space MBA will put talent at the center of that movement.”— Paul Jarley, UCF College of Business dean
Ali is ready to guide the next generation of space business leaders at SpaceU — and he’s hoping to recruit students from every major to find their place in space.“I’m here helping build what I think is the greatest program in the world for space
business,” Ali says. “Our students are … 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.”
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’s 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. “The space industry isn’t the future. It’s happening now. Our new space MBA will put talent at the center of that movement,” says Paul Jarley, dean of the College of Business, which houses the program. As the business school at Florida’s Technological University, our goal is not just to fuel the talent pipeline, but to help shape the market — even if it’s in space.
