Purdue University's Aeronautical Engineering Technology (AET) program is engaging in curriculum development to cultivate the commercial space engineering technologists of the future. The engineering technologist is intended to be positioned between the design engineers who create the design, and the technicians who build and maintain the systems. The engineering technologist discipline has long been recognized in aircraft design and support, but is still an evolving area in the commercial space industry. The evolution continues as the new commercial space companies mature into organizational structures like legacy aerospace companies. The existing aviation focused engineering technology curriculum at Purdue prepares students for the needs of the aviation and aerospace industry today; however, the needs of the commercial space industry are different and require a different set of specialized knowledge in addition to the complementary knowledge. In this paper, the case is presented for the importance of the engineering technologist in the emerging commercial space industry. The case is also made for the value of having an engineering technology program that is combined with an external accreditation standard of sufficient standing to provide stability of the curricula in the program. Purdue's AET bachelor's degree program is accredited by the ABET - Engineering Technology Accreditation Commission (ABET-ETAC). Incorporation of the goals of Purdue's IMPACT program are also discussed. Finally, the development of program outcomes of a first sophomore/junior course in a planned minor in space operations program are developed and mapped to the educational outcomes established by the AET program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]