Jake Garn Space Research Complex
Named after the former Utah U.S. senator and astronaut, the Jake Garn Space Research Building, provides additional room for Utah State University’s growing Space Dynamics Laboratory.
Building construction, funded by a $10 million NASA grant, began in July 1992. At the time, the building created much-needed space for researchers and SDL employees whose offices were formerly on USU’s main campus. More than 300 people - including about 125 students and 30 faculty members - work on space technology at the lab.
SDL has been delivering small satellite solutions since 1982. Recently, the small satellite industry has seen significant growth in the effectiveness of miniaturized satellite systems, such as scientific and electro-optical sensors, which can provide better capabilities than ever before. SDL has been at the forefront of this rapidly evolving discipline and has developed a wide array of small satellite hardware, from individual sensors and actuators to complete satellite systems.
SDL was founded on early successes in remote and space-based sensor development. Sensor systems are vital tools to decision-makers in fields as diverse as defense, meteorology, ecology, and economics. Today, the men and women of SDL are leading experts in infrared, visible, ultraviolet, and radio frequency sensor research and development. These systems acquire critical imagery and other data for applications such as astronomy, atmospheric research, and missile detection and tracking. SDL also develops in-situ instruments for space and terrestrial weather sensing.
Since 1959, SDL has been solving the technical challenges faced by the military, science community, and industry and supports NASA’s mission to drive advances in science, technology, aeronautics, and space exploration to enhance knowledge, education, innovation, economic vitality, and stewardship of Earth. SDL is a research laboratory headquartered in North Logan, UT, and has offices in Albuquerque, NM; Bedford, MA; Colorado Springs, CO; Dayton, OH; Houston, TX; Huntsville, AL; Los Angeles, CA; Stafford, VA; and Washington, DC. For more information, visit www.sdl.usu.edu.
Robert F. Bennett Research Laboratory
Robert F. Bennett’s name on an SDL building joins another building on the Innovation Campus that bears the name of Sen. Jake Garn, Bennett’s predecessor. The senator — who was a University of Utah alum — brought in $45 million in funds for SDL during his time in office.
SDL is a unit of the USU Research Foundation and one of 14 University Affiliated Research Centers in the nation charged with applying basic research to the technology challenges presented in the military and science arenas. SDL focuses on electro-optical sensor systems, calibration, thermal management, reconnaissance systems and small satellite technologies.
Much of the money Bennett brought in for SDL was for projects dealing with NASA and the U.S. Department of Defense. More than a securer of research dollars, Bennett was a man who wanted his staff to go on and do great things, explained Tim Stewart, a former Bennett Capitol Hill staffer and USU alumnus. Bennett, Stewart noted, was particularly fond of having USU students as his interns.
As senator, Bennett served as ranking member or chair on a number of committees, including the Appropriations Committee. Bennett’s career in the Senate ended in 2010, when he was defeated by Mike Lee during a wave of Republican tea party-fueled anger, so the junior Utah senator left office in 2011. After leaving office, Bennett became a policy adviser for a D.C. Law firm, opened the Bennett Group, a consulting firm and lectured at the University of Utah.
*Note: All bios are current and up-to-date as of Summer 2022.