The University of Texas at San Antonio is looking to the moon for new ways to promote national security, protect the environment and preserve energy grids and economic supply chains.
UTSA, seeking to harness opportunities in a new emerging space industry, last week announced creation of its Center for Space Technology and Operations Research. It will support missions between the earth and the moon - cislunar space - and on the lunar surface. UTSA and other Texas universities and institutions are vying to tap into funding from the nascent Texas Space Commission.
The new center will advance engineering, technology and operations to meet growing demand for research and workforce development by civil, commercial and national security space agencies and companies, the university said. It will support more than 35 researchers and over 200 students working in areas such as unmanned spacecraft, lunar habitation, hypersonics and propulsion.
UTSA President Taylor Eighmy said the center's launch "positions UTSA as a destination for innovation, knowledge creation and talent development for the space economy.
"UTSA has intentionally expanded its capacity, facilities and expertise in space technology to meet the rapidly growing demand for innovation and enable stronger comprehensive partnerships with key organizations like Southwest Research Institute and Department of Energy National Labs," Eighmy said.
David Silva, distinguished professor of physics and astronomy at the university, will be the center's inaugural director.
Satellites in space can be used in agriculture, logistics, energy and traffic control, along with military defense applications, UTSA officials said.
"When you consider the fact that our daily lives rely on satellites for GPS services, telecommunications and weather forecasting, it's clear that cislunar space is a linchpin in our national defense. Our new center is poised to leverage UTSA expertise to strengthen national security and Texas leadership in the emerging trillion-dollar cislunar economy," Silva said.
The center's creation follows the 2022 release of a White House Office of Science and Technology Policy strategy on approaches to cislunar space and the formation in March of the Texas Space Commission, established through 2023 state legislation. The commission held its first workshop last month, gathering ideas in San Antonio on how it should begin investing in the state's space economy.
The commission is weighing over 200 proposals totaling $2.9 billion, with $150 million to distribute in grants. Its other $200 million in initial funding is being spent by the Texas A&M University System to build a research and training facility next to Johnson Space Center in Houston.
Officials of the commission said they plan to announce winners of the grants in early 2025. Researchers at UTSA and Southwest Research are among the grant applicants.