3 things to know about the University of Tennessee's new Space Institute Research Center in Huntsville

UTSI — The new Space Institute is conveniently located in Research Park. (The University of Tennessee Space Institute / Facebook)

The Vols have expanded their Huntsville footprint.

The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and the Huntsville/Madison County Chamber of Commerce celebrated the ribbon cutting for a new facility for the UT Space Institute yesterday, April 5, according to the Huntsville Business Journal.

Here’s everything you need to know about the new facility:

1. It’ll be in Cummings Research Park

The Huntsville Business Journal reported that the new facility will be located at 210 Wynn Drive NW.

Cummings Research Park is home to several of the biggest names in space and defense, as evidenced by the Space Institute’s new neighbors: The building is situated between Northrop Grumman and Trivector Services and just minutes from other industry heavy hitters like Lockheed Martin, Dynetics, Blue Origin and more.

2. It’s an extension of the UT Space Institute in Tullahoma, TN

The Space Institute is a satellite campus of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. The main facility is in Tullahoma, Tennessee, near the Arnold Engineering Development Center on Arnold Air Force Base.

The new facility will bring UT closer to another military base, as it’s just minutes away from groundbreaking research and development happening on Redstone Arsenal at the hands of the Army, FBI, ATF and NASA.

Facilities in use at the Tullahoma campus include:

Center for Laser Applications
Fluid Dynamics Lab
Mach 2 + 2.3 blowdown tunnels
Mach 4 + 7 Ludwieg tubes
Propulsion Research Facility
Vacuum Chamber Laboratory

According to the Huntsville Business Journal, the new facility will focus on four main areas:

Research + development
Technology translation/transition
Workforce
Undergraduate and graduate education

3. Alabama college students will be invited to work with UT Vols

The partnership with Alabama A&M is already active with the Dean’s Speaker Series.

Not a UT student or faculty member? No worries. The Research Park facility will provide an opportunity for Vols to work alongside Chargers, Bulldogs, and Tigers as they tackle the aerospace and defense industries’ biggest questions.

Bruce Lamattina, Senior Director for Space and Defense Programs at UT, told the Huntsville Business Journal that they’d already reached out to UAH, Auburn and Alabama A&M to create partnerships.

Welcome to the Rocket City, UT! Make sure you don’t miss out on more news like this—follow us on Facebook and Instagram, and subscribe to the Hville Blast newsletter for all the news you need.