On the Radar…

Monday, The University of Colorado and SpaceDev Inc. of Louisville announced the formation of a nonprofit organization to support entrepreneurship and work force development in the space industry. ESpace: The Center for Space Entrepreneurship has several objectives: to serve as an incubator for startup aerospace businesses, to fund new technology development at the university, and to provide grants to high school graduates and community college students. The largest contributors to ESpace’s $1M in initial funding were the Metro Denver Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Develop initiative (WIRED), the Colorado Office of Economic Development, the University of Colorado, SpaceDev, and the Air Force Research Laboratory. Among eSpace’s initial activities will be giving $20,000 grants to five startups including an effort to develop nanosatellites to improve the prediction of solar storms and an unmanned system to measure micro-weather effects.