Tackling the fast-growing problem takes coordination across the globe for the right solutions. Led by Assistant Professor Thomas González Roberts, ESPL will focus on international coordination, sustainability, and security in outer space. Roberts is a member of both the AE and INTA faculties, the first joint appointment between the two schools. With a foot in both worlds, Roberts is building an interdisciplinary research environment that few other universities can support. 

“EPSL is a policy-impact laboratory, dedicated to creating domain-informed, data-driven tools for outer space decision-makers,” Roberts said. “I’m thrilled to be taking on this work with our world-class students here at Tech.”

 As a trained astrodynamicist, Roberts uses data derived from the Space Surveillance Network (SSN) — a U.S. Space Force-operated system of telescopes and radar systems — to track space objects and characterize their behaviors on orbit. He then compares those actual behaviors to the mission plans that satellite operators and governments share with international organizations to study patterns of rule-following and rule-breaking in the space domain. 

“Taking photos of the sky and calculating satellite paths is a complex aerospace engineering task — it's astrodynamics. But understanding why we do it, and how that data is used, brings us into the realm of international affairs and social science,” Roberts said. “It’s risky work, especially when major spacefaring nations treat space as a potential battlefield, and satellite operators rarely communicate directly with each other. While there's never been a war in space, there are military space agencies that spend billions of dollars every year training and equipping forces to fight a war in that domain one day.”

In ESPL, early career scholars will develop research products that reach beyond the academic sphere. Projects will extend beyond conference papers and journal articles to tools that can be directly used by policymakers, such as interactive models, briefings for decision-makers, and domain specific editorials.

Roberts’ vision is to have students from many disciplines working side by side on problems that demand technical expertise and global awareness. A key part of his role is demonstrating how this interdisciplinary approach strengthens engineering education. By integrating intercultural and interdisciplinary communication into the curriculum, students gain essential skills for leadership and career advancement — skills often missing from traditional engineering programs.

“We build partnerships with stakeholders in U.S. and international space governance. We've already started on that through my role as the International Telecommunication Union’s (ITU) Academic in Residence and the work of my colleagues from the Nunn School’s Center for Space Policy and International Relations, but this model was designed from the start to directly support student researchers, too,” Roberts explained.