Research

The Center for Space Research is a world-renowned institution melding engineering, space and Earth sciences. For more than four decades, CSR has been at the forefront of geodesy and celestial mechanics, and has provided extraordinary expertise and leadership in orbit determination, remote sensing, and computational methods.

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Large cubes orbiting Earth in space.

Missions

Illustration of underwater scene with beams represented as three glowing green lines From ICESat, shimmering through clear blue water.

Ice, Cloud and Land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2)

Satellite altimetry systems keep an eye on Earth’s environment from space, monitoring changes in the heights of ice sheets, glaciers, and forest canopies to record the effects of a changing climate.

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3D illustration showing various aircraft and satellites in the sky scanning from above.

Surface, Topography and Vegetation (STV)

CSR is part of the STV community and is working together for the general advancement of this new type of Earth observing system as well and a focus on coastal geomorphology and data fusion for next generation global bathymetry capabilities.

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Figure illustration showing ICESat-2 Boreal Biomass map with plots.

Arctic-Boreal Vulnerability Experiment (ABoVE)

Space-based laser altimetry has revolutionized our capacity to characterize terrestrial ecosystems through the direct observation of vegetation structure and the terrain beneath it.

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News

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Cygnus cargo spacecraft

Texas Engineer Joins Effort to Land New Space Academy

Lori Magruder will represent UT in a statewide push to bring the new Space Academy to Texas.

Texas Engineer Lori Magruder.

Lori Magruder Named to Texas Leadership Team for U.S. Space Academy

Professor Lori Magruder, director of the University of Texas Center for Space Research, has been named to a Texas leadership team working to being the United States Space Academy to the state.

Texas Engineer Maruthi Akella.

Akella Honored for Advancing Aerospace Engineering Through Controls and Autonomy

Maruthi Akella has been awarded the Joe J. King Professional Engineering Achievement Award for his contributions to aerospace engineering, particularly in guidance, navigation and control, autonomous robotics, and spaceflight systems.