As the organization behind the most prestigious and longest-standing awards in the global aerospace industry, we honor outstanding innovation and achievements in the aerospace field worldwide.
The Royal Aeronautical Society's honours, medals and awards recognises individuals or teams who have made outstanding contributions to the academic, scientific and engineering advancement of aerospace. Anyone can nominate a candidate for an award. Any individual or team who believes their contribution deserves recognition from the Society can be nominated.
For specific application and selection requirements, please refer to：
https://www.aerosociety.com/get-involved/recognition/honours-medals-and-awards/
Honor
The election of Honorary Fellows and Honorary Associates to the Society is at the discretion of the General Assembly, usually based on the recommendation of the Society's Awards Committee. Except in special circumstances, no more than three elections for Honorary Fellows and Honorary Elected honorary academicians and honorary academicians enjoy the same rights as these honorary academicians and will receive a certificate signed by the president.
Honorary Fellow
The highest honor for aerospace achievement: awarded only to aerospace professionals who have made the most outstanding contributions to the aerospace profession and are considered by the industry to have a broad influence.
Representatives of previous honor recipients：
2021 Honorary Fellows
Ms Gwynne Shotwell
SpaceX President and Chief Executive Officer
2012 Individual Outstanding Contribution Gold Award
Elon Musk
SpaceX President and Chief Executive Officer
Honorary Associate
Recognizes an individual who has made outstanding contributions to the advancement of the aerospace industry. This honor is given to individuals who are not majoring in aerospace but have made outstanding contributions to the advancement of the aerospace industry or profession.
Special Awards
The Medal is awarded at the discretion of the Council based on the recommendations of the Society's Awards Review Committee. The Medal is given to individuals or teams who have made outstanding contributions to the advancement of aerospace science, technology and engineering.
The degree of contribution is judged as Excellent (Gold), Major (Silver) or Significant (Bronze). These judgements must be based on the information provided on the annual nomination form and the quality of each annual nominee. Key criteria include innovation, impact and excellence.
Only innovative ideas, new knowledge systems, changes in the global industry landscape or scientific and technological changes that can provide clear evidence of having a profound impact on the development of the aerospace industry can be considered outstanding contributions. To meet the minimum requirements for significant contributions, it is necessary to provide clear evidence to prove that the innovation of aerospace science and technology has been promoted, promoted or supported in other internationally recognized ways and has a profound impact on the entire industry.
Generally, unproven or incremental innovations to existing components, systems, subsystems, technologies, processes, or business models will not be eligible for review. The rank and status of an individual or group is not a primary consideration in the review.
Annual Individual Outstanding Contribution Gold Award
Awarded to individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the global aerospace academic, scientific and engineering fields. Only one individual gold medal winner is given each year.
Representatives of previous honor recipients：
1909 Gold Medal for Outstanding Individual Contribution
The Wright Brothers
1950 Gold Award for Outstanding Individual Contribution
Sir Geoffrey de Havilland
2012 Individual Outstanding Contribution Gold Award
Elon Musk
1909 Gold Medal for Outstanding Individual Contribution
Awarded to individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the global aerospace academic, scientific and engineering fields. Only two individual Silver Award winners are given each year.
Annual Individual Outstanding Contribution Bronze Award
Awarded to individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the global aerospace academic, scientific and engineering fields. Only three individual Bronze Award winners are given each year.
Annual Team Outstanding Contribution Gold Award
Awarded to teams that have made outstanding contributions to the global aerospace academic, technology and engineering fields. Only one gold medal winning team is awarded each year.
Representatives of previous honor recipients：
2019 Team Outstanding Contribution Gold Award
Chang'e-4 lunar landing project team
Silver Award for Outstanding Contribution of the Team
Awarded to teams that have made outstanding contributions to the global aerospace academic, technology and engineering fields. Only two silver award-winning teams are given each year.
Annual Team Outstanding Contribution Bronze Award
Awarded to teams that have made outstanding contributions to the global aerospace academic, scientific and engineering fields. Only three bronze award-winning teams are given each year.
Medal Classification
The Society's special awards are awarded by the Council at its discretion based on the recommendations of the Award Review Committee. The recipients must be individuals or small teams who have been engaged in academic research, engineering development and technological innovation in the aerospace field for a long time and are widely recognized by the industry for having a significant impact on the academic, technological and engineering progress of aerospace.
Normally, no more than one special award will be given to the same person or group in any one year.
The following special awards classified by professional field must be supported and nominated by the professional branch.
The contributions awarded for the Special Awards must be judged by the Awards Committee to be at least Bronze Level. There is no hierarchy for these awards. Special Awards are usually awarded in the form of a certificate signed by the President. The named awards are as follows：
Alston Medal
Awarded to outstanding individuals or teams in the field of flight test
Flight Operations Medal
Awarded to outstanding individuals or teams in flight operations related fields
Flight Simulator Medal
Awarded to outstanding individuals or teams in the field of flight simulation
Roger Green Medal
Awarded to outstanding individuals or teams in the field of human factors research
Allan Marsh Medal
Awarded to outstanding individuals or teams in the field of helicopters and rotorcraft
Jeffrey Pardo Space Award
Awarded to outstanding individuals or teams in aerospace-related fields
Turnbuckle Award
Awarded to outstanding individuals or teams in the fields of civil aviation airworthiness and maintenance
Turnbuckle Award
Each year the Society awards a prize for the best paper published in the academic journal Aeronautical Journal during the previous year. All such papers will meet the requirements set out in the Aeronautical Journal's Instructions for Authors and will be peer reviewed for quality of content. The prize includes a certificate signed by the Society's President.
Annual Paper Gold Award
Awarded to academic papers that have made outstanding contributions to aerospace academic research and scientific and technological progress and have international influence. No more than one gold award is awarded each year.
Silver Award for Paper of the Year
Awarded to academic papers that have made outstanding contributions to aerospace academic research and scientific and technological progress and have international influence. No more than two silver awards are awarded each year.
Annual Paper Bronze Award
Awarded to academic papers that have made outstanding contributions to aerospace academic research and scientific and technological progress and have international influence. No more than three bronze awards are awarded each year.
Young Outstanding Paper Award
Awarded to the best paper published by an individual or group of individuals under 30 years of age.
Aviation History Journal Article Award
Aviation History is an online journal first published in 2010. The papers are available for free download.
https://www.aerosociety.com/news-expertise/journals-papers/papers-of-the-journal-of aeronautical-history/
The Aviation History Journal Paper Award was established in 2018. It is an annual award for the outstanding paper published in the journal in the previous year. The award is presented to the paper that is considered to be most popular with the readers and thus to be the best example of the dissemination of aerospace history to inspire future developments. The award includes a certificate signed by the President of the Society.
Other Awards
The Society awards prizes each year for the best paper published in the academic journal Aviation Journal during the previous year. All such papers will meet《Aviation Journal》“The award includes a certificate signed by the President.
