Rice University

Rice University is a private research university in Houston, Texas. Its current official curriculum includes a professional Master of Science in Space Studies, a coordinated MBA/MSSpS degree, and declared Aerospace areas of specialization in both the Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering and Master of Mechanical Engineering. Rice also maintains longstanding NASA collaboration and the Rice Space Institute. The Rice Space Institute expanded its applied research in 2026 through the Center for Space Technologies (CSTx), focused on translating research into space systems and commercial applications, including use of lunar and Martian materials. Rice also leads the Center for Advanced Space Sensing Technologies (CASST), a U.S. Space Force-supported collaboration developing compact sensors and artificial-intelligence methods for interpreting space observations.