#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.
CU Boulder’s leadership in aerospace begins with world-class, committed faculty dedicated to innovation in aerospace engineering, Earth and space sciences.
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.
CU Boulder is one of the nation's leading aerospace universities, with over a dozen aerospace-related departments, centers and institutes.
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
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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
