Research & Development

The primary objectives of Aurora’s Research and Development (R&D) business sector are to further diversify the company’s technology portfolio and integrate more cutting-edge technologies into the company’s products. The R&D sector supports Aurora’s other three primary business sectors – Advanced Concepts, Tactical Systems, and Aerostructures – by leveraging the company’s extensive expertise and by infusing innovative new technologies.

Aurora’s R&D group is maturing technologies across a wide range of disciplines. One of the strongest areas of activity is in vehicle autonomy. Incredible advances are currently being made in this field, and Aurora is at the forefront of developing exciting new technologies, working on autonomy for both individual UAV’s (Unmanned Autonomous Vehicles) and coordination of multiple UAV’s (surface, underwater, ground, and air). The R&D group is also developing innovative subsystems and components to integrate into these technology markets. We focus on areas such as propulsion, guidance and control, and fault-tolerant avionics systems, as well as cutting-edge new vehicle designs.

In October 2007, Aurora acquired Payload Systems Inc. (PSI), a company providing science and engineering services for spaceflight and terrestrial applications since 1984. Their spaceflight systems have performed successfully — without a single unrecoverable failure on orbit — on more than two-dozen missions on free-flyers, the Space Shuttle, Spacelab, the International Space Station, and the Mir space station. Many of the PSI programs and capabilities were merged with those of the R&D group, further expanding and complementing the group’s portfolio of technologies and expertise. The new capabilities brought to Aurora fall into three overlapping categories: experiment support, flight systems development, and technology innovation/special projects.

Aurora recognizes that research and development – whether for celestial or terrestrial use – demands exacting systems and components for unique applications. Our science and engineering solutions are tailored to our client’s precise needs and specifications.