U-M Aero Professors Earn START Grant for Future Spaceport Assessment Research

Professors Çınar, Jia-Richards,Johnson, and Li of the U-M Aerospace Engineering Department earned a Seeding to Accelerate Research Themes (START) Grant to develop a framework for assessing how future spaceports will impact surrounding communities in both environmental and social contexts. This research is important because there is a growing need for new places to test future space technologies. Therefore, new spaceports must be built to meet the surging demand while minimizing the adverse effects experienced by the public and surrounding environment.

START Grants are awarded to teams of faculty members within the College of Engineering interested in exploring a similar research theme. By winning this grant, Prof. Cinar and her colleagues can begin preliminary research to strategically position themselves for future external funding.

You can read the full article published by the Aerospace Engineering Department here.