Tempe, Arizona – The U.S. Space Force and Arizona State University signed an agreement Tuesday making ASU the newest member of the service’s University Partnership Program.
Dra. Lisa Costa, director of technology and innovation at the USSF, joined ASU President Michael M. Crow on the Tempe campus to finalize the agreement and learn more about the space’s initiatives and space capabilities. ASU.
Headquartered in the School of Earth and Space Exploration and named US News & World Report as the most innovative university in the country for seven consecutive years, ASU will now bring together partnerships and models to collaborate with the Space Force in research and education.
“Our partnership today with ASU will pave the way for higher education and workforce development,” said Dr. Costa. “With a stellar reputation in space engineering, defense research and innovation, ASU is the perfect addition to the program and will be instrumental in helping us take the Space Force’s mission to the future.” ASU is one of the fastest growing research universities in the country, surpassing $ 677 million in research spending by 2021. ASU ranks sixth in the United States for research spending among universities without a medical school. The university also ranked first in the U.S. in cross-disciplinary research and ranked third nationally for NASA-funded research spending.
“We’re certainly no strangers to space,” Crow said. “ASU is a leader in exploring the universe, from planets to asteroids and from the Milky Way to the most distant galaxies. We are excited to work with Space Force to continue on this path to discovery and vision. “.
ASU faculty, researchers, staff, and students have participated in more than 20 space missions. The university leads NASA’s upcoming Psyche and LunaH-Map space missions, and develops and manages instruments for science missions to the moon, asteroids, and planets.
ASU scientists and engineers are currently working on several projects for future and current space missions:
– LunaH-Map is a small shoebox-sized spacecraft built at ASU to analyze the water content at the lunar south pole to establish the conditions for future explorations. – The Psyche mission will look for answers about how planets form by analyzing the metal-rich asteroid Psyche orbiting the sun between Jupiter and Mars. -Europa Clipper includes the Europa thermal emission imaging system built by ASU scientists and engineers to investigate Jupiter’s Europa moon. -ShadowCam is a telescope instrument built by ASU experts to explore and map permanently shaded regions of the moon for frost tests or ice deposits.
“We accept this new U.S. Space Force partnership and look forward to future collaboration at all possible levels,” Crow said. “Whether we’re helping to develop the Space Force’s workforce through formal education or helping with initiatives to strengthen national defense goals, we’re all in.”
ASU’s experience with defense research will be critical to creating future programs with the USSF. The university maintains multiple programs, centers, and initiatives with the Department of Defense that address current and emerging security challenges, such as cybersecurity, misinformation, artificial intelligence, and national security operations.
The USSF’s university association program aims to recruit, educate, and develop its workforce, along with the participation of a world-class technology and research base to ensure the interests of the nation and maintain an edge in space.
UPP’s four goals are to establish opportunities for world-class research, advanced academic degrees, and workforce development and leadership for the USSF Guardians; identify and pursue areas of mutual interest with member universities, individually and collectively; establish scholarship, internship, and tutoring opportunities for ROTC college students and cadets; and recruiting and developing various official, enlisted, and civilian guardians with a particular focus on science, technology, engineering, and math.