The International Planetarium Society, Inc. (IPS) is the global association of planetarium professionals. Its more than 600 members come from 42 countries around the world. They represent schools, colleges and universities, museums, and public facilities of all sizes, including both fixed and portable planetariums. The primary goal of the IPS is to encourage the sharing of ideas among its members through conferences, publications, and networking. By sharing their insights and creative work, IPS members become better planetarians.
IPS membership is open to anyone interested in planetariums. Members include directors, teachers, informal educators, technicians, writers, artists, media specialists, digital artists and producers, presenters, vendors, scientists, students, and sponsors and friends of the planetarium dome and its starry sky. Although planetariums can be part of school district curriculum, either at an in-district dome or through field trips, they also serve as sites and sources of life-long learning and Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education.
More than 20 regional and national planetarium associations from around the world are affiliated with IPS. The representatives report to a board composed of elected members from 6 geographic regions, the number of representatives determined by the number of IPS members within that region. This board and the elected officers make up the Executive Council, the ruling body of the organization.