Researchers at the University of Florida are advancing new technologies to detect nuclear activity from space, positioning the university at the forefront of a rapidly evolving area of national security and space research.
Kyle C. Hartig, Ph.D., and James Baciak, Ph.D., professors in UF’s Nuclear Engineering Program, and members of the UF Astraeus Space Institute, are leading two complementary projects focused on space-based remote sensing for nuclear security. The work is supported by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency and the National Nuclear Security Administration through its nuclear forensics consortium.
Together, the efforts aim to develop next-generation detectors capable of identifying faint nuclear-related signals from orbit. This is a critical capability as space becomes increasingly important for both scientific exploration and global security.
“It means UF is helping lead on a difficult and important class of space-security problems at a particularly important moment,” Hartig said. “These projects position UF as a leader in developing novel technologies for detecting, characterizing and interpreting nuclear-related signatures from space.”
One project focuses on monitoring nuclear materials in orbit using advanced radiation detection systems, while the other explores optical and X-ray sensing techniques to detect and analyze nuclear events, including low-yield or concealed tests. Both efforts are designed to strengthen nuclear forensics.