Embry-Riddle Selected For Space Force “Hyperspace Challenge”

Daytona Beach, FL – Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University is now one of 11 colleges selected for the United States Space Force’s “Hyperspace Challenge.” The Hyperspace Challenge, launched in 2018, is a competition soliciting technologies to solve space-related problems, with $100,000 prizes being awarded to finalists. This is the first time the Space Force has opened up its challenge to colleges. The showcase of space innovations—hosted by the Air Force Research Laboratory and CNM Ingenuity, as part of the new SpaceWERX for the U.S. Space Force—will take place in December. “This early immersion in research that will minimize risks and optimize the effectiveness of Space Force is the kind of discovery-driven education that sets our aerospace engineers apart when they enter the workforce,” said Embry-Riddle President P. Barry Butler, Ph.D. “Our selection reflects Embry-Riddle’s growing prominence as a space-focused research institution.” The ERAU team—headed by Dr. Troy Henderson, associate professor of Aerospace Engineering—will compete in the challenge’s Rapid Initial Orbit Determination topic. The goal of the topic is to understand when objects in space are too close to one another, putting them in danger of collision—which is also known as conjunction analysis—then come up with a method of completing this analysis quickly and with sparse data. “One major benefit to students will be the connections they make with program managers in the Air Force Research Lab and Space Force,” Dr. Henderson said. “The project will not only give them hands-on experience working on space equipment but also a direct line to key policymakers in the industry. That’s a really big deal.” Also on the Embry-Riddle team are faculty members Dr. Riccardo Bevilacqua, Aerospace Engineering, and Dr. Sirani Perera, associate professor of Mathematics, in addition to statistics professor Kshitij Khare, from the University of Florida. Other institutions in the Space Force’s university cohort include the Norris High Resolution Research Group at New Mexico Tech; SFluor Inc.; Stevens Institute of Technology; SUNY Polytechnic Institute; Texas State University; University of Texas At El Paso; Pennsylvania State University; University of Cincinnati; University of Colorado in Colorado Springs; and Utah State University.