This medal commemorates the work of the late William Nordberg and is awarded to a scientist who has made a distinguished contribution to the application of space science in a field covered by COSPAR. From 2018 the IAU has named an asteroid for each COSPAR award recipient. The number of the asteroid appears below in parentheses.
Previous recipients
| 2018 | Christoph Reigber (6314) |
| 2016 | Gordon Greeley Shepherd |
| 2014 | Mikhail Ya. Marov |
| 2012 | Herbert Fischer |
| 2010 | Kuo-Nan Liou |
| 2008 | Joe Waters |
| 2006 | John P. Burrows |
| 2004 | Louis J. Lanzerotti |
| 2002 | Moustafa Chahine |
| 2000 | Kenichi Ijiri |
| 1998 | Anne M. Thompson |
| 1996 | Charles Elachi |
| 1994 | Pierre Morel |
| 1992 | John Theodore Houghton |
| 1990 | Desmond G. King-Hele |
| 1988 | S. Ichtiaque Rasool |
Nomination requirements, form, and citations for the most recent award recipients.