Gary Zank, director of the Center for Space Plasma and Aeronomic Research at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, received the 2026 COSPAR Space Science Award on August 3 in Florence, Italy, and has had a minor planet designated 21039 Zank.

The Committee on Space Research, an international body founded in 1958, gives the award for "outstanding contributions to space science," according to COSPAR. Zank shares the 2026 award with Angela Bazzano of Italy's National Institute for Astrophysics. He directs CSPAR, a Huntsville space research center at UAH, and is principal investigator on a five-year, $20 million National Science Foundation award, according to a university announcement.

Key Details

• Award: 2026 COSPAR Space Science Award, presented August 3, 2026, in Florence, Italy.
• Recipient: Gary Zank, director of the Center for Space Plasma and Aeronomic Research (CSPAR) at the University of Alabama in Huntsville.
• Presented by: Pascale Ehrenfreund, COSPAR council president. Co-recipient: Angela Bazzano of Italy's INAF.
• Minor planet: Minor Planet 21039 is now designated 21039 Zank, a 2.4-kilometer-wide stony asteroid between Mars and Jupiter.
• Federal award: Zank is principal investigator for Future Technologies and enabling Plasma Processes (FTPP), a five-year, $20 million NSF EPSCoR Track-1 award.

What the COSPAR Space Science Award Recognizes

COSPAR gives the Space Science Award for outstanding contributions to space science across a recipient's career, according to the organization's 2026 awards announcement. Pascale Ehrenfreund, COSPAR council president, presented the medal during the 46th COSPAR Scientific Assembly, held in Florence from August 1 to August 9, 2026.

Zank said in the UAH announcement that he had not known he was nominated. "Since it covers the awardee's entire career, receiving this medal was very humbling given the great work that so many people have done," Zank said.

Zank said COSPAR "exemplifies the idea of international cooperation and collaboration" and that during the Cold War its members "were a critical, yet quiet, conduit for bringing together people from around the world under the umbrella of space science."

The Heliophysics Research Behind the Award

Zank's research addresses the interaction between the solar wind and the local interstellar medium, according to the UAH announcement. That work includes the prediction of a "hydrogen wall," a region where neutral hydrogen becomes compressed ahead of the heliosphere.

Zank's early 2000s work on solar energetic particles informs current space weather models, UAH said. His theory that reflected interstellar pickup ions influence the structure of the heliospheric termination shock was later supported by observations from NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft, according to the university.

A Minor Planet Between Mars and Jupiter

Minor Planet 21039 has been officially designated 21039 Zank. The object is a stony asteroid roughly 2.4 kilometers wide, in the inner region of the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, according to UAH.

Zank said the designation amused him. "It's fun and amusing to know that a minor planet will forever have my name attached to it – at least forever in any meaningful human sense," Zank said.

UAH Research Roles and the $20 Million FTPP Award

Zank holds the Aerojet-Rocketdyne Chair in Space Science at UAH, serves as a University of Alabama Board of Trustees Trustee Professor, and is a former chair of the Department of Space, according to the university.

Zank is also principal investigator for Future Technologies and enabling Plasma Processes, or FTPP, a five-year, $20 million National Science Foundation EPSCoR Track-1 award. NSF EPSCoR directs funding to states that receive a smaller share of federal research dollars.

The Huntsville Commerce Report has previously reported on UAH research into cosmic dust and solar corona heating, on Palo Alto Networks joining the UAH Invention to Innovation Center, and on Redwire's Huntsville manufacturing expansion.

What This Means for Huntsville Space Research

Career awards from international scientific bodies are credentials universities cite in faculty recruiting and in competition for federal research funding. Neither UAH nor COSPAR quantified any effect of this award on the university's funding position, and none is claimed here.

The measurable federal money in this story is the FTPP program Zank leads. Its NSF EPSCoR Track-1 designation ties the $20 million award to a program aimed at building research capacity in participating states, the kind of institutional funding that shapes technical hiring across Huntsville and North Alabama.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is Gary Zank?

Gary Zank is director of the Center for Space Plasma and Aeronomic Research at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. Zank holds the Aerojet-Rocketdyne Chair in Space Science, serves as a University of Alabama Board of Trustees Trustee Professor, and is a former chair of the university's Department of Space.

What is the COSPAR Space Science Award?

The COSPAR Space Science Award is given by the Committee on Space Research, an international organization established in 1958, for outstanding contributions to space science. COSPAR presented the 2026 award to Gary Zank of UAH and to Angela Bazzano of INAF on August 3, 2026, in Florence, Italy.

What is the FTPP award at UAH?

Future Technologies and enabling Plasma Processes, or FTPP, is a five-year, $20 million National Science Foundation EPSCoR Track-1 award with Gary Zank as principal investigator, according to the University of Alabama in Huntsville. NSF EPSCoR directs funding to states that receive a smaller share of federal research awards.

The 46th COSPAR Scientific Assembly concluded in Florence on August 9, 2026. Zank continues to direct CSPAR and to serve as principal investigator for FTPP, according to the university's August 26, 2026 announcement. More Huntsville space research coverage is in the publication's Space archive.