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Home Research Research Focus Areas Aerospace

Aerospace

#1 university recipient of NASA research awards

The University of Colorado Boulder has created an environment in which our aerospace engineering and Earth and space sciences faculty, students and industrial researchers work together to solve complex problems, envisioning and creating the future for space and Earth systems.

Pioneering new technologies

Enhancing research infrastructure

Inspiring a new generation of STEM innovators

Aerospace News

Artist's depiction of James Webb Space Telescope

Webb telescope spots super old, massive galaxies that shouldn’t exist

In a new study, CU Boulder astrophysicist Erica Nelson and her colleagues spotted six "fuzzy dots" of light in images from the James Webb Space Telescope. The candidate galaxies may have existed just 500 to 700 million years after the Big Bang and contain almost as many stars as the Milky Way. Read more
View of the Taurus Molecular Cloud

A star is born: Study reveals complex chemistry inside ‘stellar nurseries’

The universe's carbon atoms complete a journey that spans eons—forming in the hearts of dying stars, then becoming a part of planets and even living organisms. Now, a team led by CU Boulder scientist Jordy Bouwman has uncovered the chemistry behind one tiny, but critical, step in this process. Read more
Sunset as seen from space

New space instrument to peer at light reflecting from Earth, achieve record accuracy

A first-of-its-kind sensor, developed by a team at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, will measure sunlight reflecting from Earth with more accuracy than any instrument in space or on the ground. Read more
Read more at CU Boulder Today

Aerospace In-Depth Stories

Students in spacesuits

New minor brings space expertise to the masses

As the top public university for NASA research funding, CU Boulder is famous for aerospace. Read more
An artist's concept of Cassini during the Saturn orbit insertion. (NASA)

Cassini's swan song

It was a bittersweet ending for some CU Boulder scientists and students. NASA’s Cassini spacecraft made one last dive toward Saturn, breaking up like a meteor in its crushing atmosphere in September. Read more
Closeup of a comet

Why some comets break up, then make up

“Some comets are like couples—they break up, but then they get back together down the road,” says Distinguished Professor Daniel Scheeres of the Ann and H.J. Smead Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences. Read more
Read more Aerospace Stories
Faculty leaders in Aerospace

Faculty Leaders

CU Boulder’s leadership in aerospace begins with world-class, committed faculty dedicated to innovation in aerospace engineering, Earth and space sciences.

International Space Station

Industry Partnerships

Our faculty and students conduct world-class research resulting in new scientific discoveries and groundbreaking technologies that create commercial opportunities for Colorado's aerospace community.

Graphic depicting solar influence on Earth

Research Institutes & Entities

CU Boulder is one of the nation's leading aerospace universities, with over a dozen aerospace-related departments, centers and institutes.

For Media

19

CU-affiliated NASA astronauts

$120+

million in aerospace-related research annually

8

All 8 planets visited, plus Pluto and beyond our solar system

20+

aerospace-related academic departments, centers and institutes

Unmanned flying vehicle parked in a field near Boulder

Shaping Tomorrow’s Leaders in Aerospace

The Ann and H. J. Smead Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences, part of CU Boulder’s College of Engineering and Applied Science, is one of the top 4 aerospace engineering departments in the country, with the #8 ranked graduate program (National Research Council) and #12 ranked undergraduate program nationwide (U. S. News & World Report).

Research Institutes & Entities

Faculty member works with student in LASP’s Mission Operations center

Training Undergraduates in Mission Operations

The Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) is the only university-based Mission Operations & Data Systems center that trains and certifies undergraduates to perform mission ops for NASA satellites.

Research Institutes & Entities

Daniel Baker

A World Leader in Space Weather

The Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) launched in 1948, a decade before NASA. Dan Baker, professor of astrophysical and planetary sciences and a strong advocate for increasing awareness of the risk and impacts of space weather, has served as director of LASP since 1994.

  • Professor, Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences

Faculty Leaders  Research Institutes & Entities

Penina Axelrad

Improving Satellite Navigation

Penina Axelrad is a leading expert in GPS technology for real-time satellite operations. Her research group at the Colorado Center for Astrodynamics Research primarily focuses on Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) used for orbit determination, remote sensing and vehicle navigation.  

  • Professor, Aerospace Engineering Sciences

Faculty Leaders  Research Institutes & Entities

Boulder from space

Understanding our Planet

Researchers at the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) use space-based remote sensing to enhance our understanding of the Earth environment, from the oceans to the atmosphere. Waleed Abdalati, a professor of geography at CU Boulder who worked for 12 years as a NASA scientist, serves as director of CIRES. Most recently, Dr. Abdalati chaired the Committee for the Decadel Survey for Earth Science and Applications from Space.

  • Professor, Geography

Faculty Leaders  Research Institutes & Entities

Zoya Popovic

Expanding Research Capabilities

Zoya Popovic played a critical role in partnering with Lockheed Martin Corporation to fund the Lockheed Martin Radio Frequency Space Systems Research Center, along with several academic programs.

  • Distinguished Professor, Electrical, Computer & Energy Engineering

Faculty Leaders  Industry Partnerships

NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission

Studying Asteroids and Comets Near Earth

Daniel Scheeres is recognized for his pioneering work on the motion of bodies in strongly perturbed environments, such as near asteroids and comets. He is currently the leader of the radio science team on NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission, which will collect samples from asteroid Bennu and return them to Earth.

  • Distinguished Professor, Aerospace Engineering Sciences

Faculty Leaders

Students in spacesuits

Space Minor

The Space Minor provides students from any major with an over-arching background in all aspects of space– especially the ways in which it has transformed how we communicate, get our news, engage in commerce and address issues critical to our future.

Graphic rendition of MAVEN in space

Investigating Mars’ Climate History with MAVEN

Bruce Jakosky, principal investigator for the MAVEN mission and one of the world’s preeminent experts on the Martian atmosphere and astrobiology, is studying the potential for life on Mars and elsewhere in the universe, along with philosophical and societal issues in astrobiology.

  • Professor, Geological Sciences

Faculty Leaders

Rendering of an extragalactic object in spac

Exploring Extragalactic Frontiers

Jack Burns, a fellow of the Center for Astrophysics and Space Astronomy, focuses his research on extragalactic astronomy (i.e. astronomy outside of the Milky Way galaxy) and cosmology, as well as supercomputer numerical simulations, space science and space exploration, and public policy issues in higher education and science.

  • Professor, Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences

Faculty Leaders  Research Institutes & Entities

Extraordinary Facilities & Resources

Aerospace Building

New Aerospace Building (Coming 2019)

LASP building

Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP)

Wind tunnel

Experimental Aerodynamics Laboratory

Fiske Planetarium

Fiske Planetarium

Key Departments, Institutes & Centers

  • BioServe Space Technologies
  • Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics
  • Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences

  • Ann and H.J. Smead Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences
  • Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences
  • Research & Engineering Center for Unmanned Vehicles

  • Center for Astrophysics and Space Astronomy
  • Colorado Center for Astrodynamics Research
  • Center for Aerospace Structures

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