The ACCESS for Education Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit foundation of Microgravity Enterprises, Inc (MEI). Established in 2007, the purpose of the ACCESS Foundation is to carry out MEI's educational mission, namely to provide educational and public outreach focused on space research, development and commercialization.

The flagship program under which the ACCESS Foundation carries out its educational mission is the ACCESS for Education Program (also called the ACCESS Program), which seeks to involve the tremendous talent and creative spirit in the nation's schools and universities to help make commercial space a reality.

The heart of the ACCESS Program is MEI's commitment to donate payload space, free of charge, on every one of our commercial launches for the purpose of conducting research and executing experiments aimed at advancing the commercialization of space. Payload space will be donated for a full spectrum of activities ranging from K-12 inspirational experiments, to next generation commercial space demonstration payloads developed by U.S. universities. The ACCESS Program will add a new dimension and focus to space research by integrating the elements of profitability and sustained business modeling with traditional science and technology development.

Key aspects of the ACCESS program