Limitless Space Institute Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
842206901
IRS 990 coverage
2019–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Houston, TX, USA
Phone
2813397800
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Education N.E.C.

Reported finances

Revenue
$131,987
Expenses
$332,607
Assets
$687,296
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

4 people listed

People named in this filing

  • KAMAL GHAFFARIAN (EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN)
  • CLAIRE HAIDAR (DIRECTOR)
  • YUNHEE CHANG (DIRECTOR)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Limitless space institute is a non-profit organization whose mission is to inspire and educate the next generation to travel beyond our solar system and to research and develop enabling technologies. Lsi advances the pursuit of relevant deep space exploration r&d through the following student-engaging programs: internal r&d: pursuing in-house basic research at the eagleworks laboratories near johnson space center.external r&d: directly funding academia-led r&d projects through grants.collaborative r&d: advancing research in collaboration with university partners.scholarships & fellowships: awarding scholarships for undergraduate, graduate, and postdoc students.lab boosters: awarding lab boosters to k-12 education initiatives focused on bold space exploration.

What it reported doing in 2025

Research & development: internal r&d: pursuing in-house basic research at the eagleworks laboratories near johnson space center.external r&d: directly funding academia-led r&d projects through grants.collaborative r&d: advancing research in collaboration with university partners.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 84
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 76
  • Sustainability: 35
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 85.4%; rating input score 85
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 43
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -152%; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.07; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 2.8% per year; rating input score 100; 41st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -7% per year; rating input score 0; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 16.3% per year; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 85.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 4 board members independent · 3 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $284K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 4 people listed
  • Consistency: 19 of 19 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2019 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 1/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.