The University of Texas at Austin will become the first academic institution to work directly with the U.S. Space Force on detecting, analyzing, and countering threats in space that affect national security. This initiative is supported by a $9.3 million seed fund grant from the Texas Space Commission, which will be used to establish a Space Domain Awareness (SDA) Tools, Applications, and Processing (TAP) Lab at UT.
Space domain awareness involves monitoring objects orbiting Earth, including satellites and debris, as well as identifying potential threats from adversaries. Moriba Jah, lead researcher on the grant and professor in the Cockrell School of Engineering’s Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics, described threats as anything with the “intent, opportunity and capability to cause harm” to assets such as telecommunications satellites or spacecraft.
“The SDA TAP Lab anchors Texas within the national space security defense research ecosystem,” said Jah. “This effort allows us to develop and rigorously test scalable analytic methods to detect and track objects in orbit, then provide those capabilities to operational partners.”
The new lab at UT will coordinate with an existing privately operated TAP SAP Lab in Colorado Springs, Colorado. By extending this framework into an academic setting, UT aims to offer access to its research expertise and high-performance computing resources.
UT’s computing infrastructure includes the Texas Advanced Computing Center. This facility will support secure processing of large orbital datasets, simulate complex orbital behaviors, and evaluate algorithms for space domain awareness at a scale not previously available for this field.
The SDA TAP Lab Texas will focus on research activities such as prototyping tools, benchmarking performance metrics, and workforce development by collaborating with industry partners. The lab is also intended as a multidisciplinary training ground for students from fields like engineering, computer science, policy studies, law, and business. Students will work alongside industry and government partners on projects relevant to national security needs.
Gwen Griffin, chair of the Texas Space Commission board stated: “The expansion of the SDA TAP Lab into Texas represents a significant step forward for the Space Force and for the state. SDA TAP Lab Texas brings together academic research, industry innovation and advanced computing in a way that strengthens national defense and long-term space resilience.”
Funding from the commission’s Space Exploration & Aeronautics Research Fund will support construction of lab facilities as well as up to six cycles where teams from industry can collaborate on technology development aligned with U.S. Space Force priorities.
Operations at SDA TAP Lab Texas are set to begin immediately with initial cohorts shaping both research direction and technical capacity. As it launches this partnership with federal agencies through dedicated funding support from state sources such as https://gov.texas.gov/news/post/governor-abbott-announces-texas-space-commission-grant-awards-for-university-of-texas-system-and-baylor-college-of-medicine , UT continues its role in expanding both local industry involvement in space technologies and broader contributions toward national defense operations.
