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The �鶹ӰԺ has been selected as a��United States Space Command member.

The new national program is designed to expand collaboration and academic exchanges between universities and U.S. Space Command.

“They’re engaging with top universities in the country to have two-way communication; how Space Command can help us and how we can benefit them,” said Marcus Holzinger, an associate professor in the Ann and H.J. Smead Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences. “It’s about educational best practices.”

Space Command has four key goals for the program:

• Engage the future workforce
• Increase space applied research and innovation
• Expand space-focused analytic partnerships
• Enrich the strategic dialogue on space

The program will have particular impact in developing training for members of the still new Space Force military branch, which was established in 2019, but its impact will be felt across all branches of the military and into the civilian space realm.

“Even if a student isn’t going into the Space Force, the majority of funding in aerospace has strong connections to the military and intelligence community. There’s a shared vernacular and it’s important for our education to meet the needs,” Holzinger said.

CU �鶹ӰԺ was invited by Space Command to apply to the program, which was created in 2022. The initiative has particular relevance to the aerospace department but the partnership applies university-wide.

“This is a new initiative. It’s a fresh blank slate,” Holzinger said. “We’re taking results from our research and our educational mission and applying it directly to benefit the national endeavor in space.”