The International Space Transport Association (ISTA) is the world’s first branch organization for commercial entities involved in the space transport economy. Founded in The Hague in 2008, ISTA treads in the footsteps of its civil aviation predecessor IATA, also founded in The Hague, in 1916, to establish a powerful and effective lobby for all commercial space activities.
ISTA pursues its goals by offering memberships to all public and private organizations and persons that pursue activities within the scope of commercial space transport. Members are offered virtual and physical headquartering at ISTA’s headquarters in the Hague, administrative and legal assistance, marketing and communications services, regulatory lobbying and venture capital facilitation from a vast, worldwide network of private and public space investors.
Space transport businesses that choose to be ISTA members enjoy all-round support of their activities through a vast array of services that ISTA offers. ISTA staff maintains close links with public space organizations, academic institutions and private companies in the engineering, insurance and legal sectors, to ensure that the latest knowledge is available to its members.