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Welcome to the Cornell

Space Structures Laboratory!

We harness nonlinear mechanics to create more capable structures in space, and enable high societal impact applications.

Our Research

Structural
instabilities

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In-space manufacturing and assembly

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Active structures

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Check out our SpaceFlight Mechanics Episode

Prof. Royer talks about the present and future of space structures, including deployables, in-space manufacturing and assembly, and the role structural mechanics research can play in creating game-changing spacecraft concepts!

News

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The lab will develop novel deployable structures for the U.S. Space Force SPAR Institute!

Cornell will be developing subsystems for the next generation of nuclear-powered spacecraft which would be able to "maneuver without regret". In particular the Cornell Space Structures Laboratory will develop the deployable structure which will support high thermal conductivity ceramic tiles forming large deployable radiators. Check out the official press release here.

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Azadeh and Siamand participated in SMDS!

Azadeh and Siamand designed the TREX spacecraft to rendezvous with a temporarily captured asteroid in the Earth-Moon system, as part of the Cornell SmallSat Mission Design School! Stay tuned for more details about the spacecraft, and the whole mission called Mini-Luna! Find more about the Cornell Smallsat Mission Design School here.

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The lab was awarded research funding from NYCST!

The lab received the award for its In-Space Shaping of Deployable Space Structures project. We will develop and in-space assembly and manufacturing (ISAM) solution amenable to the responsive creation of large space structures. We will design a deployable building block whose shape can be programmed through buckling during deployment, drastically reducing processing energy and thus build times.

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