Research Facilities

The Aerospace Center has extensive and constantly expanding facilities to support its research vision. In 2025, the Aerospace Center will move into the new, $80 million Advanced Manufacturing and Aerospace Center across the street from the Engineering Building on the UTEP campus. The state-of-the-art facility will grow the Center’s research capabilities and its capacity to train student researchers.

The Aerospace Center's research capabilities and talent development in aerospace, defense, and energy are expansive because of enabling infrastructure, equipment, and partnerships. Our research capabilities, facilities, and equipment allow us to design, build, and test to advance technologies that enable travel, exploration, and the protection of the U.S.'s interests in the Earth's atmosphere and space and to advance energy technologies for a more secure and sustainable future.

Our facilities and protocols enable us to conduct research in compliance with ITAR requirements.

On Campus Facilities.

Goddard's Combustion and Propulsion Research Facility I 4,280 sq. ft. that includes a 600 sq. ft. ultra-high velocity projectile resistance combustion bunker

Challenger-Columbia Structures and Materials Research Facility I 3,340 sq. ft.

Aerospace Education Lab I Outreach Facility I 1,210 sq. ft.

Digital Engineering Design Center | 3,960 sq. ft.

Off Campus Facilities

• Alpha Site | Research Airport I Fabens, TX 

  ■ Propulsion and Energy Systems Integration Facility I 10,200 sq. ft.

  ■ 6 test cells and one test stand

• Bravo Site I Flight Test Range I Tornillo, TX | 600 acres

  • 400-foot runways I Test Support Facility

  • LSTAR Radar I 100 KW Power Trailer

Spacecraft Design and Engineering Facility I Francis St, El Paso, TX I 8,840 sq. ft.

• Satellite Ground Station I 2.4 m S-b& antenna I 436 MHz UHF antenna
• 9 Training Rooms, 10 Office Spaces and Student Collaborative Space Partner Facilities

Partner Facilities

Lockheed Martin Missiles & Fire Control Store Front I University Towers I El Paso, TX I 1800 sq. ft.

• Employs UTEP students to support Lockheed Martin design projects.

Digital Engineering Aerospace and Defense Systems Design Centers (DEDC)

• Locations
  • The University of Texas at El Paso
• Capabilities
  • Design labs and additive manufacturing facility to a future-ready aerospace and defense workforce with transformational digital engineering skills.
  • Powered by UTEP-Aerospace Center, UTEP-W.M. Keck Center for 3D Innovation and the National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining