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As space exploration becomes more of a commercial enterprise in the U.S., the need for well-qualified aerospace technicians may be even greater than it was when NASA and its contractors were the primary employers in this field.

Working as an aerospace technician requires "a broad skill set, a particular level of attention to detail and a thorough understanding of safety,” said Steve Kane, managing director and program manager for SpaceTEC^?. Kane explained that aerospace technicians must be constantly aware of the fact they deal with things that can harm them and that the products they build must work properly to avoid endangering the public.

The SpaceTEC ATE National Resource Center links community and technical college aerospace technician education programs together in a national infrastructure. Its partners, since it was first funded by NSF in 2002, include NASA, the large companies with which NASA has contracted, the Federal Aviation Administration, and the U.S. military.

NASA’s decision to enter into commercial space partnerships for the Space Station while it focuses on research for asteroid and solar system missions has opened human space flight to commercial companies. NASA allows commercial rockets to launch from eight of its facilities and may soon open a ninth launch site for commercial flights. About 200 U.S. companies are now engaged in some aspect of space vehicle construction. Many of these companies are start-ups with small technical workforces.

"The future is pretty bright, but our national aerospace goals are not very clear," Albert M. Koller, SpaceTEC principal investigator and managing director of SpaceTEC Partners Inc.

Making sure that the technicians employed by the various commercial space exploration companies are aware of the hard lessons learned by NASA and its contractors during the Shuttle program is now a top priority for SpaceTEC.

As part of its emerging role as "keeper of the flame" of U.S. space exploration, SpaceTEC Partners Inc. (SPI)—the non-profit corporation that coordinates SpaceTEC activities—was authorized by NASA to hold a database of 80,000 documents of technical education and certification materials developed during the 30-year Space Shuttle program. SpaceTEC is currently developing a process to share the information in the database with U.S. citizens per NASA security requirements.

SpaceTEC adjusts to aerospace industry changes

SpaceTEC is also adjusting outreach activities for its curriculum and certifications to fit the more diffuse realities of the aerospace industry, as regional entities and small companies become more involved in the economic development of space exploration.

For instance, SpaceTEC’s staff is exploring ways to adapt aspects of its two-year degree curriculum for the Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on Wallops Island, Virginia. The state authority operates the spaceport in partnership with NASA.

“We wanted to build on the excellent training that was developed for the Shuttle program, and SpaceTEC looks like a good resource to help us do that,” Dale K. Nash, executive director of the Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority, wrote in an email. The flight authority’s stated mission is to provide “low-cost, safe, reliable, schedule-friendly space access.”

At NASA’S Langley Research Center, also in Virginia, students from Thomas Nelson Community College's aerospace technician program participate in paid internships that lead to NASA technician jobs in the various shops and labs at Langley. For several years, Langley has required interns to have SpaceTEC’s performance-based credentials.

SpaceTEC developed The Certified Aerospace Technician™ exams several years ago to document that students in its programs had mastered core skills such as aerospace workplace safety, applied mechanics, and basic electricity, as well as specialty areas such as space vehicle processing and aerospace manufacturing.

Koller explains the significance of the NASA entities and particular employers looking for technicians with SpaceTEC credentials. "When a major federal agency adopts a credential and sponsors candidates using real money, industry representatives take note. That's because such an 'endorsement' recognizes the value and importance of the skills and competencies they represent in ways that can translate into competitive advantages for contractors bidding NASA and other federal jobs."

SpaceTEC adapts certification programs for aviation and other technical employers

In recent years SpaceTEC has adapted its aerospace certification programs to serve a wider array of technical employers and to help veterans as they reenter the civilian workforce.

Its CertTEC^?, web-based exams test technicians’ performance in basic electricity and electronics, mechanical assembly, and composites. CertTEC stands for Certifying Technical Employee Competence. VetTEC^™, a new initiative undertaken in 2013, will help service personnel adapt their military skills and training to civilian technical workplaces. SpaceTEC also offers knowledge and skills inventories for employers to use as screening tests.

SpaceTEC credentials are among the industry credentials Embraer Executive Aircraft, Inc., looks for when screening technicians' applications at it Melbourne, Florida, facility.

Embraer Executive Aircraft, Inc. "has had an excellent experience" with all of its SpaceTEC-certified technicians, according to Mark A. Miller, Operations Manager for Embraer.

Miller said, "We find that these technicians are anxious to take what they have learned in the classroom and apply it to their real-world careers, and they enter into the workplace with greater enthusiasm. We also find that the SpaceTEC-certified employees typically are more detail oriented and show more eagerness to get things done than most entry-level technicians without the certification.

"The education received from the SpaceTEC program is directly applicable to their everyday job functions, and we find that they 'come up to speed' much faster by having that solid foundation in the fundamentals of working in an aerospace environment."