Zed Factor Fellowship — Fellowship

The Zed Factor Fellowship moves undergraduate students from historically excluded backgrounds into the United States aerospace industry. Each fellow is matched with a host aerospace company for a paid internship of at least ten weeks, paired with an industry mentor, brought to a leadership summit, and funded to run a self-designed aerospace community project. Past and present host companies include The Aerospace Corporation, Relativity Space, Redwire, Loft Orbital, Orbit Fab, Starfish Space, CesiumAstro, Venturi Astrolab and The Planetary Society.

All majors qualify, and placements cover non-technical roles as well as engineering ones. The program has run a class every year since 2021. The Class of 2025, announced in April 2025 with 14 fellows, is the most recent class published on the site, and the apply page still carries the 2025 cycle dates.

Benefits & funding

Paid internship of at least 10 weeks. The host company pays a living wage directly, so the rate varies with the company, the location and the role; the program publishes no figures.
Relocation stipend.
A stipend for a self-designed aerospace community service project. The application asks candidates to plan one around a $500 budget over three months.
Travel covered to the fellowship leadership summit.
One-to-one mentoring by an aerospace professional, plus a long-term professional network of fellows and alumni.

Eligibility

Full-time undergraduate student who has completed 30 or more college credits by the end of the year the application opens. AP, IB, dual-enrollment and community-college credits count.
Students at community colleges and at four-year universities are both eligible.
All majors.
From a historically excluded community or background, with a passion for aerospace, leadership potential, and technical or non-technical skills.
Legally eligible to work in the United States: US citizens, US permanent residents, DACA recipients, and international students authorized for optional practical training.
Available for a minimum 10-week internship in the summer or fall of the fellowship year.
No GPA cut-off and no letters of recommendation; review is holistic.
Applicants who already held an aerospace fellowship may apply, with preference given to candidates not previously placed in an aerospace internship through a fellowship program.
Export-control rules (ITAR) restrict some defense-related work to US citizens. The program states that it cannot guarantee a placement for a non-citizen and that it works to place every selected fellow with a suitable host.

Can you apply?

Here's who can apply

Decoded from the official rules. A free account checks them against your passport, degree and age in seconds.

Residence required
USA
Education required
Bachelor Enrolled

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Application process

1
Wait for a cycle to open. The Class of 2025 application opened in October 2024 and closed on 2 January 2025 at 11:59 PM PST.
2
Assemble the general information section, a resume or CV of two pages maximum that states the GPA, and an official or unofficial transcript.
3
Write four essays of 200 words or less: the ideal first job after school, a person who inspires the applicant, a community engagement project the applicant would run with $500 over three months, and what draws the applicant to aerospace.
4
Prepare the two creative components: the Zed Box, an AI-generated image, and the Zed Song, a music selection.
5
Submit everything through the online application portal in a single submission before the deadline.
6
Selection runs in stages: semi-finalists, then finalists, then the class announcement, then matching with host companies.

Program timeline

2024-10
Class of 2025 application opens
Application deadline, 11:59 PM PST
Jan 2, 2025
Semi-finalists selected
2025-01 to 2025-02
Finalists selected
2025-02 to 2025-03
2025-04
Class of 2025 announced
Internships run, minimum 10 weeks
2025-05 to 2025-09
Community engagement projects run
2025-05 to 2026-04
Next cycle
no cycle after the Class of 2025 has been published on the site