CU Boulder’s First Startup
CU Boulder and Ball Aerospace (now BAE Systems) have been collaborating for decades to explore the mysteries of deep space.
The relationship was forged at a unique moment in history: the “space race” was heating up in the 1950s, and post-World War II optimism was driving exciting technological innovation at the university as Edmund Ball, head of the Indiana-based Ball Brothers Company, was looking to expand beyond their famous glass jars and move into research and development. At the same time, CU Boulder physicists were working around the clock on a first-of-its-kind suborbital program to study the sun. Their so-called Rocket Project retrofitted WWII munitions with pointing control systems that would take the most advanced spectrographic measurements of the sun to date.
“That was the beginning of the development of the science of how to use aerospace platforms, technologies, aircraft and spacecraft to do really cool science,” said Chris Muldrow (AeroEngr’03; MEngrMgmt’10), executive director of the Colorado Quantum Incubator and former director of CU Boulder’s top 10-ranked Ann and H.J. Smead Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences.
Soon the Rocket Project leaders joined Ball in forming CU Boulder’s first spin-out, Ball Brothers Research Corporation. The new company moved into a building on Arapahoe Road in Boulder, placing the city at the center of the nation’s aerospace science and engineering industry.
Despite lucrative contracts in those early days, innovation was expensive, and the nascent company’s profitability faltered. That’s when they brought in Ruel “Merc” Mercure (A&S’51; MPhys’55; PhD’57) to help write the next chapter. He had designed the instrument that photographed the sun and ultimately helped connect the company’s scientific roots to a growing commercial future.
Over time, the company became known for building spacecraft systems, instruments and advanced optical technologies for major space missions, including the James Webb Space Telescope. In 2024, BAE Systems acquired Ball Aerospace and named its new unit Space & Mission Systems. The company is currently headquartered in Broomfield, Colorado, and is a major employer of CU Boulder engineers.
Since the pioneering early days of Ball Aerospace and tech commercialization at CU, Colorado is now home to more than 500 space-related companies and suppliers, including several of the nation’s top aerospace enterprises.
“We actually have the largest aerospace population per capital in the nation,” said Muldrow, “and CU Boulder continues to be a key player both regionally and internationally.”
Photos courtesy of Boulder Historical Society (top right); LASP (bottom right).
