Digital enhancement of an image by NASA of Earth and the International Space Station. Credit: Roberto Machado Noa/NASA/Getty
Space sciences is the study of planetary environments, space weather and near‑Earth phenomena, typically through spacecraft missions. It is distinct from astronomical sciences, which centre on distant celestial objects and cosmology and represent a much larger research field.
An analysis of space sciences-related output in the Nature Index for the period 2020 to 2025 shows the clear leaders in the field. The United States leads, with five institutions in the top 10 to China’s four. Large government departments in the United States, China and India, as well as some relatively small universities, make an appearance.
Beyond the top four institutions in this ranking, competition is extremely tight. There is a less than 2-Share-point difference between University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) in Hefei in fifth place and University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS) in Beijing in tenth place.
We can also look at the latest 12-month window of data (at the time of writing, this was January to December 2025), during which 186 articles related to space sciences were published in the index. It’s a small number compared to the biggest topics in physical sciences, such as quantum physics and astronomical sciences, which both had more than 3,000 related articles in 2025. But it is a fast-growing topic, especially between 2023 and 2025, when the number of space-sciences articles in the index increased by more than 150%.
Below we discuss the leaders in space sciences research for the 2020 to 2025 period.
Leading institutions in space sciences in the Nature Index
Institutions are ranked by article Share for the period 2020 to 2025. Each institution's article count (Count) is also listed.
| Rank | Institution | Location | Count | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chinese Academy of Sciences | China | 181 | 79.36 |
| 2 | National Aeronautics and Space Administration | United States | 130 | 23.39 |
| 3 | University of Colorado Boulder | United States | 106 | 21.95 |
| 4 | University of California, Berkeley | United States | 88 | 19.10 |
| 5 | University of Science and Technology of China | China | 93 | 11.86 |
| 6 | University of California, Los Angeles | United States | 44 | 11.07 |
| 7 | Johns Hopkins University | United States | 66 | 10.96 |
| 8 | Macau University of Science and Technology | China | 50 | 10.18 |
| 9 | India Department of Space | India | 14 | 10.10 |
| 10 | University of Chinese Academy of Sciences | China | 71 | 9.97 |
1. Chinese Academy of Sciences
Share: 79.36
The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), headquartered in Beijing, dominates this topic area, with almost four times the share of the second-ranked institution, for the period 2020 to 2025. However, given that CAS is the largest research institution in the world, encompassing more than 100 smaller institutes, its top ranking here is not surprising.
CAS researchers were involved in a total of 181 space sciences-related papers during the 2020 to 2025 period. In the latest 12-month window of data, they co-authored 53 papers, including 16 in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, and contributed to three Nature papers, including one that described the first rock samples brought back from the far side of the Moon by China’s Chang’e 6 mission.
Among the key CAS institutes for space-sciences research are the National Astronomical Observatories — headquartered in Beijing and in charge of facilities such as the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST) in Guizhou Province, the largest single dish radio telescope in the world — and the Institute of Geology and Geophysics, also in Beijing.
2. National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Share: 23.39
The United States’ leading institution in space-sciences research, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has pioneered research in space exploration, scientific discovery and aeronautics since its establishment in 1958. Its latest endeavour at the time of writing — sending a crew of four astronauts on a lunar flyby — marks the first human voyage beyond low-Earth orbit since 1972.
Although its Share in space sciences is much smaller than CAS’ for the 2020 to 2025 period, the gap in Count between the two — 130 for NASA and 181 for CAS — is much smaller. The two institutions operate at very different scales, NASA employing roughly 18,000 civil servants, including researchers and technicians, whereas CAS has more than 60,000 staff. In the Nature Index overall, CAS is the top-ranked institution, compared with NASA, in 199th place.
In the latest data window, NASA co-authored 34 space-sciences papers in the Nature Index, including 13 in Geophysical Research Letters.
3. University of Colorado Boulder
Share: 21.95
At less than 3 Share points behind NASA, the University of Colorado Boulder (CU-Boulder) is the leading academic institution in the world for space-sciences research for the period 2020 to 2025.
In the latest data window, it also ranked third in space sciences, compared to 101st in the Nature Index overall, which demonstrates its strength in this particular area. CU-Boulder contributed to 27 space-sciences papers, most of which were published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters and Geophysical Research Letters.
4. University of California, Berkeley
Share: 19.10
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley) is in fourth place for space-sciences output in the period 2020 to 2025, after CU-Boulder. In the Nature Index overall, UC Berkeley has a much higher ranking than CU-Boulder, at 37th place, based on the latest data.
Physical sciences — the broader category into which space sciences falls — is UC Berkeley’s strongest subject area in the Nature Index, with a Share of 140.91 in the latest 12-month data window. Its biological sciences Share, 136.85, is not far behind.
In the latest data window, UC Berkeley does not appear in the top 10 institutions for space-sciences output.
5. University of Science and Technology of China
Share 11.86
Although USTC has a lower Share than UC Berkeley over the period, its Count is higher, at 93 to UC Berkeley’s 88. This indicates that UC Berkeley’s researchers, on average, accounted for a larger share of authorship per article.
Physical sciences is a particular strength for USTC. In the latest data window, it ranked second in the world in the subject, after CAS. It also ranked second in chemistry in 2025, after CAS in first.
Unlike its higher ranked peers in this topic area, USTC doesn’t have a dominant journal for co-authored articles in space sciences in the latest data. Of the 23 space-sciences articles it contributed to, it published 6 articles in Nature Communications, 5 in Geophysical Research Letters and 5 in Earth and Planetary Science Letters.
6. University of California, Los Angeles
Share 11.07
The second entry from the University of California group in this top 10, the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is less than one Share point behind USTC, but had less than half the article Count (44 versus 93) for the period 2020 to 2025.
In the latest 12-month data window, UCLA ranked ninth in space sciences. Its leading topics for the year were astronomical sciences; clinical sciences; and oncology and carcinogenesis.
A strong all-rounder, UCLA’s top subject area in the Index by Share is biological sciences, followed by physical sciences. It is also highly ranked in health sciences, placing in 26th in the latest data window.
7. Johns Hopkins University
Share 10.96
A fraction of a Share point behind UCLA in space sciences for the 2020 to 2025 period, and with a higher Count, Johns Hopkins University (JHU) in Baltimore, Maryland is a strong competitor in this topic area. In the latest 12-month data window, it also ranked seventh — two places above UCLA.
JHU does not prioritise physical sciences research the way other institutions in this top 10 list do. In the Nature Index, biological sciences and health sciences are by far the university’s biggest subject areas, by Share. Its biological sciences Share in the latest 12-month data window of 148.64 is more than double its physical sciences Share, 67.86.
One of the four Artemis II astronauts, Reid Wiseman, earned his master's degree in systems engineering from JHU in 2006.
8. Macau University of Science and Technology
Share 10.18
Macau University of Science and Technology (MUST) in China does not appear in the space sciences top 10 in the latest 12-month data window. Its last top-10 appearance in space sciences was in 2021.
Strongest in physical sciences and chemistry in the Nature Index, MUST’s leading topics in the latest 12-month window, by Share, were astronomical sciences; macromolecular and materials chemistry; and pharmacology and pharmaceutical sciences; space sciences; and electronics, sensors and digital hardware.
9. India Department of Space
Share 10.10
The only institution outside the United States and China, and one of three government institutions in this top 10, the India Department of Space made a strong contribution to space-sciences research in the Nature Index for the 2020 to 2025 period.
Headquartered in Bengaluru, the India Department of Space manages several agencies and institutes related to space exploration and space technologies, including the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), the national space agency of India.
In the Index, the India Department of Space’s strongest subject is Earth & environmental sciences, followed by physical sciences. In the latest 12-month window of data, it contributed to one biological sciences paper, and no chemistry papers.
Last year, ISRO pilot Shubhanshu Shukla joined an international crew on Axiom Mission 4, which transported the team to the International Space Station. ISRO’s first human spaceflight mission, Gaganyaan, aims to launch a three-person crew into orbit in 2027.
10. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences
Share 9.97
The University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS) is ranked 10th in space sciences by Share in 2020 to 2025, but it has the sixth highest Count for the period, at 71. This suggests that UCAS, on average, contributed fewer authors to each individual article.
UCAS is one of the leading institutions in the Nature Index overall, ranking sixth globally in the latest 12-month data window and seventh in physical sciences. In the latest data, UCAS also ranked fourth in space sciences, above USTC. Its article Count, 26, included 7 articles in Geophysical Research Letters, 6 in Nature Communications and 4 in Earth and Planetary Science Letters.
