空间物理学是对地球气态大气上方所有区域的研究，该区域一直延伸到太阳，再延伸到太阳系的边界：更年期。这些区域包括太阳本身以及从中吹出的风，一直到直升飞机。它们还包括围绕着太阳系的一些行星（包括地球）的磁泡（称为磁层）和行星大气的上层（称为电离层）。这些不同的区域都被称为等离子体的热电离气体所控制，因此表现出许多常见的行为和特性。
Space Physics is the study of all regions above the Earth's gaseous atmosphere, extending in to the Sun and out to the boundary of the solar system: the heliopause. These regions include the Sun itself and the wind blowing out from it, all the way to the heliopause. They also include the magnetic bubbles, called magnetospheres, surrounding some of the solar system's planets (including the Earth), and the upper layers of planetary atmospheres, called ionospheres. These disparate regions are all dominated by hot ionized gasses called plasmas, and therefore exhibit many common behaviors and properties. Because they are ionized, space plasmas interact strongly with magnetic fields and can be effectively energized by electric fields and electromagnetic waves. The dynamics of space plasmas are often studied directly using detectors on spacecraft, sub-orbital rockets, and high-altitude balloons. It is also possible to study space plasmas remotely by observing their emissions in X-rays and extreme ultraviolet (EUV). MSU's Space Science and Engineering Laboratory (SSEL) develops, builds, and launches such experiments to study the ionizing radiation in these environments. MSU's Solar Physics group uses remote sensing data to study the energy conversion processes occurring in solar flares and disturbances propagating through the solar wind. All of these experimental results can be understood in terms of theoretical models of their common processes. MSU's space physicists are working on models to help understand the conversion of magnetic energy to heat and radiation through a universal process called magnetic reconnection.