Stay current in aerospace. The rest will follow.
Your daily aerospace dashboard heading into CU Boulder. Right now the job is simple: stay current on the news and launches, get settled at school, and show up to a club or two. The headlines worth knowing, the launches to watch, the feeds to follow, and the groups to walk into this fall. No cold calls, no networking events you have to white-knuckle through. Just open the page, read, click, and the field comes to you. Internships for next summer do not open until January, so there is nothing to chase yet. A short list of weekend gigs and drone practice lives at the bottom. Built to grow, check back often.
The current headlines, pulled from SpaceNews, NASA, Payload, Space.com, and CU Boulder. Read one a day and you will sound like you have been in the field for years. Verified July 6, 2026.
A startup is trying to build computer chips in space, riding a Falcon 9 booster
Spaceflight Now
On the July 5 Starlink launch from Cape Canaveral, the Falcon 9 booster carried two microwave-sized manufacturing pods for a D.C. startup called Besxar. The pitch: use the hard vacuum of space to make ultra-pure semiconductor materials that are hitting their physical limits on Earth. The pods ride the booster above the Karman line and back in about eight minutes, an “ultimate egg drop” test for wafers. Space manufacturing is a real and growing field, and it is backed by Nvidia and SpaceX.
Read the story ›
A robot spacecraft is chasing down a falling NASA telescope to rescue it
NASA Science
On July 3 a Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL, air-dropped from a modified airliner over the Marshall Islands, launched a robotic servicer called LINK. Its job over the coming months: catch up to NASA’s Swift telescope, which solar storms are dragging out of orbit, grab it, and boost it higher. If it works, it is the first time a commercial robot has captured a NASA spacecraft that was never designed to be serviced. On-orbit servicing is one of the hottest corners of the industry right now.
Read the story ›
Blue Origin lays out how New Glenn gets back to the pad
Spaceflight Now
After the New Glenn rocket blew up in a May engine test and wrecked its launch pad, Blue Origin has now detailed its return-to-flight plan: repair the pad, requalify the hardware, and get flying again, which matters because New Glenn carries the Blue Moon lander in NASA’s Artemis plans. A real look at how a company digs out from a major failure, the recovery is as instructive as the accident.
Read the story ›
Astronauts ‘operate’ on the space station’s broken robotic arm
Spaceflight Now
Two ISS astronauts went out on a spacewalk to repair Canadarm2, the station’s big Canadian-built robotic arm, swapping parts on a machine that was never meant to be fixed in orbit. Robotic arms and on-orbit repair are exactly the kind of systems engineering an aerospace degree opens up. A clean example of humans and robots working together in space.
Read the story ›
NASA is looking for volunteers to spend a year on a fake Mars
NASA
NASA is recruiting for its next CHAPEA mission, a full year living in a simulated Mars habitat on Earth to study how crews hold up on long deep-space trips. Not something to apply to now, but a window into how the agency is preparing for human Mars missions, the ones that could still be flying when you are mid-career.
Read the story ›
NASA hands CU Boulder a rare award for its space research
Smead Aerospace, University of Colorado Boulder
On June 30, NASA presented BioServe Space Technologies, a research center inside your future department, with a Space Flight Awareness Supplier Award, an honor given only a handful of times. BioServe has designed, built, and flown microgravity life-science experiments since 1987, and NASA called them “the standard that we look to.” Proof that Smead aerospace is not just rockets, it flies real biology in space, and that undergrads work there.
Read the story ›
NASA’s X-59 is set to fly supersonic for the first time
Space.com
NASA’s needle-nosed X-59 aims to break the sound barrier at Mach 1.4, testing a shape meant to turn the sonic boom into a quiet thump so supersonic flight over land can return. It has no forward windscreen, just cameras feeding an augmented-reality display. Colorado’s own Boom Supersonic is chasing the same goal. Aerospace is not all rockets.
Read the story ›
The next launches on the calendar. Dates and times slip constantly, so confirm with the schedule the day of. Most carry a free live webcast.
Falcon 9 · Transporter-17
~Jul 7SpaceX
Vandenberg Space Force Base, California
A rideshare mission packing dozens of separate payloads onto one rocket, everything from tiny CubeSats to commercial satellites, into a Sun-synchronous polar orbit. This is how student and startup satellites actually reach space, and exactly the kind of mission CU Space Grant hardware hitches a ride on.
Confirm time and watch ›
Soyuz MS-29 · crew to the ISS
~Jul 14Roscosmos, carrying a NASA astronaut
Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan
A crewed launch sending NASA astronaut Anil Menon and two cosmonauts on a long-duration stay aboard the space station. Crewed launches are the ones to actually wake up for, humans strapped to a rocket, and NASA+ usually carries them live start to finish.
Confirm time and watch ›
Falcon Heavy · Roman Space Telescope
NET Aug 30NASA, flying on SpaceX
Kennedy Space Center, Florida
NASA’s Roman dark-energy telescope arrived in Florida in June running ahead of schedule and now targets a launch no earlier than August 30 on a Falcon Heavy. Falcon Heavy lands two boosters back at the Cape in a synchronized touchdown worth watching, and the payload is a flagship observatory that will map dark energy and hunt exoplanets.
Confirm time and watch ›
Vulcan Centaur · Dream Chaser 1
NET Q4 2026United Launch Alliance flying Sierra Space’s Dream Chaser
Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida
The first flight of Sierra Space’s Dream Chaser, a winged cargo spaceplane that lands on a runway. Built in Louisville, Colorado, twenty minutes from campus. Watch this one as a hometown launch.
Confirm time and watch ›
The other half of aerospace is the sky itself. What is happening overhead right now, and the closest truly dark places to go see it, all within a road trip of the Front Range. Verified July 6, 2026.
Colorado Stargazing Trail
Start herecolorado.com
Thirteen certified International Dark Sky Parks and eight dark-sky communities across the state, with a running list of star parties and ranger programs. The single best map for planning a night under real dark skies.
Open the stargazing trail ›
Jackson Lake State Park · closest dark-sky park
~1.5 hrsColorado Parks & Wildlife
Orchard, CO, northeast of Denver
Colorado’s first certified Dark Sky Park and the easiest deep-dark sky from the northern Front Range. Telescope and night programs run May through August, an easy first stargazing run from Golden.
Open Jackson Lake ›
Westcliffe & Silver Cliff · free public star parties
~3 hrsDark Skies of the Wet Mountain Valley / Smokey Jack Observatory
Wet Mountain Valley, CO
Two of the highest-altitude Dark Sky Communities in the world, with free summer star parties and one of the most powerful public telescopes in Colorado. Check their calendar and just show up.
Open darkskiescolorado.org ›
Black Canyon of the Gunnison · summer star programs
~4.5 hrsNational Park Service
Montrose area, CO
Rangers run free evening astronomy programs through the summer under some of the darkest skies in the state, the Milky Way hanging over a 2,000-foot canyon. The big Astronomy Festival is in September, worth a fall road trip.
Open the park astronomy page ›
Subscribe once and the field comes to your inbox and feed. Free, no networking required. Pick two or three and actually read them.
SpaceNews
News sitespacenews.com
The industry paper of record for space business, policy, and launch. Has a free email digest. If you read one trade publication, read this.
Open spacenews.com ›
Payload daily newsletter
NewsletterPayload
Free, short, sharp morning email on the business and policy of space. The easiest way to keep up without much effort. Sign up once and you are set.
Subscribe at payloadspace.com ›
NASA news and NASA+
Officialnasa.gov
Straight from the source: mission updates, image releases, and free live coverage on NASA+. Pair it with the NASA app on your phone.
Open nasa.gov news ›
CU Boulder Smead Aerospace news
Your departmentAnn and H.J. Smead Aerospace Engineering Sciences
Your future department’s own news and student newsletter. Read it now so you arrive in the fall already knowing the labs, the projects, and the people. There is also a Smead student newsletter you can follow once you are enrolled.
Open colorado.edu/aerospace ›
NASASpaceflight on YouTube
Launch channelYouTube
Round-the-clock launch streams, Starbase coverage, and deep technical commentary. A great background channel for an introvert who would rather watch rockets than work a room.
Open the channel ›
This is the real work this fall: get settled at CU Boulder and walk into a club or two. No cold outreach needed. These are open student groups inside your own department, where you build hardware with people who share the obsession. Showing up here is the single best thing you can do this year, and it is how internships and references quietly happen later.
Smead Aerospace student groups (start here)
University of Colorado Boulder
The department’s master list of every aerospace student group: rocketry, AIAA, Design Build Fly, SEDS, and more. One page, all the doors.
Open the student-groups page ›
Colorado Space Grant Consortium (COSGC)
NASA-funded, based in the Discovery Learning Center on campus
NASA money for students to build and fly real space hardware: CubeSats, balloon payloads, instruments. Headquartered right on the Boulder campus. One of the best hands-on programs in the country and open to undergrads early.
Open colorado.edu/center/spacegrant ›
CU Sounding Rocket Lab (CUSRL)
Student-run, University of Colorado Boulder
One of CU’s largest student groups, building solid and liquid rockets aimed at the Karman line (100 km, the edge of space). If you want to actually machine, test, and fly hardware as a freshman, this is the place. Group page also at colorado.edu/studentgroups/cusrl.
Open cusrl.com ›
AIAA CU Boulder student branch
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
The professional aerospace society’s student chapter. Brings in industry engineers, researchers, and astronauts to talk to students, and runs the bridge to the wider AIAA. Low-pressure way to meet the field through talks, not networking.
Open the CU AIAA page ›
CU SEDS
Students for the Exploration and Development of Space
A space-focused club open to any major, projects, speakers, and competitions for people who just love space. An easy first meeting to attend before you commit to a build team.
Open the CU SEDS page ›
CU Design Build Fly (DBF)
University of Colorado Boulder
Design, build, and fly a radio-controlled aircraft for the national AIAA competition. Pure hands-on aero engineering with a real deadline and a real plane at the end.
Open the DBF page ›
Nothing to do here yet. Filed for later so it is not on your mind now.
A short list of weekend and short-window work for the summer. Nights and weekends, flexible, Colorado. Every link goes straight to the company.
Aerial & real-estate media work
Per projectBoulder Drone
Denver · Boulder · Longmont · Fort Collins
Front Range real-estate photo and drone video shop. Short shoots, weekend-friendly. Your Part 107 is the door opener.
Open boulderdrone.com ›
Real-estate drone & video
Per projectJeeves Drones
Denver metro
Drone-first real-estate media (photo, video, floor plans). Short turnarounds, focused on FAA-licensed work.
Open jeevesdrones.com ›
Event & mobile DJ
Pay per eventNufusion Productions
Denver and surrounding areas
Actively hiring DJs with a real application form on the page. Weekends, weddings, festivals. A genuine on-ramp while you learn the craft.
Apply at nufusionproductions.com ›
Event staff / brand ambassador
$25–$30 / hrModern Talent
Denver and surrounding areas
Mostly nights and weekends, and they book you on the availability you give them. Paid every other week. Says straight up it is great for students.
Apply at moderntalentusa.com ›
Not jobs. A plan to build real stick time before spending money, then the right first drones to buy. The Part 107 gets you legal, this gets you good.
Arvada Associated Modelers is an AMA Gold Leader club in Golden, with a flying field, a Learn to Fly program, and even a collaboration with CU Boulder Aerospace Engineering. Their field is an FAA-recognized identification area (FRIA), so it is a legal, friendly place to practice. Find other nearby fields through the AMA Club Finder.
Simulators build real stick skills with zero crash cost. Best value first:
DRL Simulator (about $19.99 on Steam, info at drl.io): one-to-one physics modeled on real racing drones, great structured training.
Liftoff: FPV Drone Racing (about $18.99, from liftoff-game.com): the most content for the money, strong all-rounder.
VelociDrone (velocidrone.com): the racer’s pick, most realistic racing physics, best for sharpening precision.
Uncrashed (on Steam): the cinematic and freestyle pick, beautiful environments for practicing smooth camera moves.
Ryze Tello (around $99, made with DJI tech, at the DJI Store or ryzerobotics.com): light, durable, programmable, the classic sub-$100 trainer for learning to fly indoors and out.
DJI Neo (around $169 no controller, at the DJI Store, details at dji.com/neo): palm-sized 135g, shoots 4K, flies with a phone or a controller. A step up that already makes usable footage.
For an actual paying gig, rent a pro drone instead of owning one. BorrowLenses (LensRentals) ships DJI drones nationwide with no long-term commitment, so you can match the right aircraft to the job and pass the cost through.
When the gigs are steady, the DJI Mini 5 Pro (from about $449, base, at the DJI USA store) is the smart first camera drone. Under 250g so it is the lightest to fly legally, with a 1-inch sensor, obstacle sensing, and a long transmission range. Fly More combos (extra batteries, controller) run higher if you want them. Start with the base, add batteries when the work demands it.