成立於民國七十九年，現有主聘教師13位，與中央研究院、中大太空遙測中心、天文所及地科系合聘教師6位，設有碩士班與博士班，主要研究領域為太空電漿物理、太空測地學、電離層物理，雷達科學，太空酬載研發及遙測科學。。

研究重點為高層大氣、電離層、磁層、行星際空間、太陽物理與動力以及行星科學、太空電漿物理模擬、雷達氣象與衛星遙測等。

主要設備有VHF 雷達、高速計算與個人電腦實驗室、太空資料研究中心、電波傳波實驗室、電離層斷層掃描與全球定位系實驗室，以及中華衛星一號 IPEI 酬載實驗室與中華衛星三號 COSMIC 資料心。其他資源包括太空遙測中心之數據影像處理與衛星遙測實驗室等。

太空所在太空科學研究與教育之廣度及完整性為國內獨一無二，長久以來亦持續參與國際太空科學研究計劃並與國外研究機構保持合作關係。

Formed in 1990, the institute now has 13 faculty members and 6 adjunct faculty members from the center for space and remote sensing research (CSRSR) and the institute of astronomy of NCU, offering both M.S. and Ph.D. programs and conducting researches in the areas of space plasma physics, radar/ionosphere physics and remote sensing science. 

Special topics include the physics and dynamics of upper atmosphere, ionosphere,magnetosphere,interplanetary space and Sun, planetary science, space plasma simulation, radar meteorology and satellite remote sensing etc.

 Major facilities include: VHF radar, high-speed computer lab, PC room, space data center, ionospheric tomography lab, GPS and radio-wave propagation labs as well as ROCSAT I-IPEI payload lab and ROCSAT III-COSMIC data center.  Resources also include the digital image processing and satellite remote sensing labs of CSRSR etc.  

The institute is the sole institution in Taiwan providing such broad and complete programs in space science research and education; it continuously participates in several international space research projects and collaborates with space science institutions of other countries.