The Aerospace Sector—Ever-Changing Orbits

Join us this March for a fast-paced, 60-minute virtual deep dive into the rapidly evolving aerospace landscape.  

As the industry shifts from speculative Space 2.0 hype toward a defense-heavy, hardware-centric reality, this session explores the friction between global collaboration and the rise of "Sovereign Space." We will analyze the shifting government procurement model—moving from funding R&D to buying fixed-price services—and examine how the Colorado ecosystem serves as a national pressure cooker for these changes. 

Beyond high-level trends, the presentation provides a roadmap for the "Hardware Era," addressing the technical hurdles of deliver or die assembly lines and the "silver wave" of workforce retirements. Crucially, faculty and researchers will be introduced to new tools and strategies for pitching to industry partners and learning how to bridge the academic Valley of Death by aligning lab research with high-TRL requirements and commercial needs.