Aeronautics and Defense Frontier
The Aeronautics & Defense Frontier at the Aerospace Center is driving pioneering research and development in low-cost missile and hypersonic weapons technologies, and uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) to advance national security and aerospace innovation. Our work directly supports industry and the U.S. Space Force’s Space Superiority mission, enhancing capabilities in Space Domain Awareness (SDA) and Space Access & Sustainment.
Key Research Areas:
Missile Systems & Advanced Propulsion
- Innovating high-speed missile technology, propulsion efficiency, and guidance systems to improve long-range precision strike capabilities.
- Advancing scramjet, ramjet, and hybrid propulsion technologies for military and aerospace defense applications.
Hypersonic Systems & High-Speed Aerodynamics
- Innovating hypersonic propulsion, thermal management of hypersonic scramjets, and innovative materials and thermal protection systems for high-speed atmospheric and spaceflight applications, critical for national defense and future planetary exploration.
Uncrewed Aerial Systems (UAS) & Autonomous Flight
- Designing and testing AI-driven UAS technologies for surveillance, reconnaissance, and combat operations.
- Enhancing swarm intelligence, autonomous navigation, and electronic warfare resilience to support national defense initiatives.
- Aerial 3D mapping and reconstruction to support flying in unstructured environments.
- Atmospherically responsive flight planning and control to enable efficient, long-range UAS operations.
- Long-range UAS operations in extreme environments.
- Atmospheric state estimation and precision flight control.
- Developing observability-aware control policies.
Space Domain Awareness (SDA) & Space Access & Sustainment
- Developing real-time monitoring and tracking systems to detect and mitigate threats in space.
- Researching orbital debris mitigation, satellite maneuverability, and space traffic management to ensure safe and secure operations in Earth's orbit.
- Supporting next-generation launch systems and space logistics for rapid deployment and sustained operations in contested space environments.
Through advanced research, AI-driven analytics, and strategic industry and defense partnerships, the Aeronautics & Defense Frontier is shaping the technologies that will secure U.S. dominance in air and space operations while fostering innovation in aerospace engineering and national security.
