Oral Roberts University Announces Collaboration With Space Infrastructure Company

A space technology company is partnering with Oral Roberts University to help get their students and faculty more involved in the private space industry.

Students and professors at ORU are performing research with the goal of improving and even saving lives, research that could benefit from a partner in space.

Inside a Biomedical engineering lab at ORU, students are learning about the strength of materials.

When he's not teaching, Dr. Goelzer is working on things like bone cell research.

He says experiments here on earth are beneficial to his work but getting the chance to perform them in micro-gravity changes everything.

"It's like an incubator,” he said. “We get to see all the aging diseases happen faster in space, so we can start learning how it happens."

ORU's new partnership with Space infrastructure company Redwire could make that a reality.

"We're looking to just collaborate a little bit closer as it relates to the international space station," said Rich Boling with Redwire.

Boling says their company does everything from building solar panels to performing research in space. He says the work being done at ORU is something they can help with.

"Anywhere there are people that are creative, talented, and really want to work hard, I think you've got the opportunity to do things in space that impact humanity," he said.

"These are the types of collaborations when I was at NASA we loved to see," said former NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine.

Bridenstine says he wants to see Oklahomans take advantage of the private space industry.

"It not only helps humanity, but it’s also great for preparing the next generation for research and engineers," he said.

Bridenstine says work is underway to develop a brand-new space station, and schools like ORU could use it for experiments with the help of Redwire.