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Building 1111 at NASA Stennis Space Center
Lauren Underwood and Travis Martin review data on laptop inside Autonomous Systems Lab

Stennis Space Center

NASA’s Stennis Space Center in south Mississippi operates as the agency’s primary, and America’s largest, rocket propulsion test site, serving the nation and commercial sector with unique capabilities and expertise.

Learn More About NASA Stennis about Stennis Space Center

Location

Stennis Space Center Mississippi

Founded

October 25, 1961

People

5,200+

Director

John Bailey (Acting)

Year-in-Review: NASA Stennis Celebrates 2023

NASA’s Stennis Space Center celebrated accomplishments in a number of areas in 2023, including propulsion testing, commercial aerospace activities, community engagement, autonomous systems, strategic planning, and more.

Look Back about Year-in-Review: NASA Stennis Celebrates 2023
large diffusers is being lifted onto the Thad Cochran Test Stand (B-2) on December 11, 2023

Mission Objectives

NASA's Stennis Space Center is the partner of choice for providing propulsion test capabilities to the nation. NASA Stennis utilizes its unique location and assets to collaborate with other agencies, academia, and industry to develop and test autonomous systems, enhance national security, and increase knowledge of the Earth and its oceans.

4 engines roaring during an engine test at Stennis Space Center

Propulsion Test

NASA Stennis features unique test facilities and capabilities to enable and support a range of propulsion-related projects and activities.

Autonomous Lab

Autonomous Systems

NASA Stennis is emerging as an industry leader in designing, testing, and deploying autonomous and advanced systems needed for future deep space missions.

vapor clouds floating high about test stand at stennis space center

Range and Airspace Operations

NASA Stennis offers protected air, ground, and waterway space to enable companies in conducting unmanned and autonomous vehicle systems.

aerial view of test complex at stennis space center

Federal City

NASA Stennis provides a unique location and shared assets to support the individual missions and work of a variety of on-site companies and entities.  

Mission-Critical Infrastructure

NASA’s Stennis Space Center is not only the nation’s largest propulsion test center but one of the most unique. It features several large test stands, as well as a highly versatile and unique E Test Complex capable of supporting a range of high-pressure component and engine testing. The center supports a variety of government and commercial test efforts, ranging from high-pressure component test projects. The entire site also is surrounded by a 125,000-acre acoustical buffer zone that is recognized as a national asset and serves as an acoustical buffer zone to enable the possibility of 365/24/7 propulsion activity without disturbing area businesses and residents. By all measures, NASA Stennis stands as the agency’s center for propulsion excellence.

Visit NASA Stennis

Explore space-related and other assorted exhibits at the INFINITY Science Center, host to the NASA Stennis Visitor Center.

Learn More About the NASA Stennis Visitor Center about Visit NASA Stennis
visitors walking toward the main entrance at INFINITY Science Center

More About NASA Stennis

NASA’s Stennis Space Center, near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, is a federal city operated by NASA since 1961. NASA and more than 50 federal, state, academic, public, and private aerospace, technology, and research organizations located onsite share in operating costs, which allows tenants to direct more of their money to individual missions. If their combined workforces of more than 5,200 employees were counted as a single entity, Stennis would rank among the Top 10 Mississippi companies in size. The Stennis Federal City is a major economic engine for the Gulf Coast region, with an average direct annual impact of more than $846 million within a 50-mile radius.

small engine test firing

NASA Stennis is…

Learn more about the nation's largest propulsion test site.

Stennis Space Center 60th Anniversary logo - the words FIRED UP! in all caps on black background

60th Anniversary

Explore six decades of powering dreams.

photo of wall at the north gate entrance of Stennis Space Center

Site Status

Call (228) 688-3777 for daily status reports.

NASA Stennis Publications

Read our monthly newsletter and more.

The crew of NASA’s Artemis II mission in orange flight suits (left to right): NASA astronauts Christina Hammock Koch, Reid Wiseman (seated), Victor Glover, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen.

Lagniappe

Learn the latest about NASA Stennis news and activities, including propulsion testing and much more.

Cover is a futuristic illustration of astronauts living in space with Earth visible in the distance

Strategic Plan

Learn more about NASA Stennis' plan to meet the challenges of a changing world and transform the way it does business.

Moon over test stand at Stennis Space Center

NASA Stennis Fact Sheets

Learn more about work and operations at the nation's largest propulsion test site.

map of Scenic Byways in Hancock County Mississippi

Byways to Space

Enjoy scenic tours of the NASA Stennis acoustical buffer zone and learn about site history as well.

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