About

The Lynn Booth & Kent Kresa Department of Aerospace builds upon a distinguished legacy of innovation that began in 1928. Since then, Caltech faculty and students have propelled aerospace scientific research and engineering, notably with the creation of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in 1938 and more recently, the Center for Autonomous Systems and Technologies (CAST). The department was endowed in 2025 by a gift from Caltech Trustees Lynn Booth and Kent Kresa, setting a new foundation for continued pioneering contributions to research and education in aerospace and related fields.

The Booth & Kresa Department of Aerospace is developing technologies for spacecraft to survive high-speed atmospheric entry and build self-sustaining space infrastructure that can generate power, communicate, and repair itself. Faculty studying hypersonic flight are improving heat shields and trajectory design for future missions. The history-making Space Solar Power Demonstrator, launched in 2023, proved that lightweight, modular platforms can beam power wirelessly to Earth—a step toward space-based solar power. We are also advancing research in bio-inspired design, robotics, and autonomy.

The tradition of integrating basic experiments, theory, and simulations over a broad range of spatial and temporal scales continues to characterize our approach. Our faculty are highly visible in their fields and continue to garner numerous awards. Our department contains unparalleled experimental facilities in solids, fluids, biomechanics, propulsion, combustion, and materials, as well as unique large-scale computational capabilities.

Our educational emphasis is on the fundamentals and advanced diagnostics, with a view toward the future: bio-inspired engineering, micro- and nano-mechanics, space science, and space technology are all current research thrusts in the Booth & Kresa Department of Aerospace. We take an interdisciplinary view of mechanics—fluids, solids, and materials—and our graduate training reflects this.

The mission of the Lynn Booth & Kent Kresa Department of Aerospace at Caltech is to address fundamental problems that could lead to transformative science and technology in Aerospace and related fields by educating and training future leaders for academia, government and industry.

To this end, we focus on:

• providing state-of-the-art education focusing on fundamentals in mechanics (fluids, propulsion, materials, structures, space).
• excelling in research training of students and postdoctoral scholars.
• creating an environment that fosters independent, innovative and interdisciplinary thinking.
• developing and maintaining infrastructure including advanced laboratory facilities to support research that will lead to cutting-edge technologies in aerospace and other related fields.
• being the focal point at Caltech for promoting collaboration with aerospace industry and government laboratories.