Originally founded as the National Space Institute in 1974 (based on the leadership of Wernher von Braun) and the L5 Society in 1975 (based on the ideas of Princeton physicist Gerard K. O’Neill), the two organizations merged to form the National Space Society (NSS) in 1987.

The National Space Society (NSS) is an independent, nonpartisan, educational, grassroots, non-profit organization dedicated to the creation of a spacefaring civilization. Widely acknowledged as the preeminent citizen’s voice on space, NSS has chapters in the United States and around the world. The society also publishes Ad Astra magazine, an award-winning periodical chronicling the most important developments in space, and organizes the annual International Space Development Conference (ISDC).