HYPERSONICS | SPACE | DEFENSE | HIGH-SPEED TRANSPORT
The Combs research group at UTSA operates a world-class Mach 7 wind tunnel facility at our on-campus laboratory space in San Antonio. We have expertise in high-speed aerodynamics with applications in a variety of areas including space access, reentry, entry/descent/landing, space debris, control jet physics, separation events, scramjets, rotating detonation engines, jet engines, and more. With experience partnering with NASA, the U.S. Air Force, the U.S. Navy, NSF, DARPA, and the aerospace industry, we are working to push the state-of-the-art in hypersonics and make the next generation of high-speed systems a reality.
The Mach 7 wind tunnel is available for external users: please contact Dr. Combs for additional information if you are interested in wind tunnel facility use.
Check out the video overviews of our research below:
In The News
Texas Space Commission’s search for ideas comes to San Antonio
Boom Supersonic’s flight plan has to be measured in years
SpaceX launch increase on hold, Starship Flight 5 will go BOOM
University Employs Huge “Batting Cage” to Conduct Drone Test Flights
UTSA drone testing enclosure built to spur research, collaboration
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Don’t Forget To File Your TPS Reports
‘Incredible visual’: Starship livestream gave rare views of fiery reentry, UTSA prof says
Port SA spends big to sell its high-tech jobs to kids on San Antonio’s South, West sides
Port San Antonio jockeying to be ‘flying car’ hub
Membership in elite research organization highlights UTSA’s capabilities in space sciences
A big week in space: Russian weapons, uncontrolled reentry, and the SLIM moon lander
Figuring out GE Aerospace’s hypersonic aircraft engine breakthrough
NASA Unveils Mind-Blowing Video of Orion Spacecraft Blazing As It Returns to Earth
Starship’s 33 Engines Created The Mother Of All ‘Shock Diamonds’
SpaceX continues preparing for potential Friday launch
India wins and Russia loses in the new race to the moon
UTSA faculty earn tenure, promotion, emeritus recognition
Three faculty members earn NSF Early CAREER Awards to accelerate research
Hypersonic Fever! With Chris Combs and Alex Hollings – The Hermeus Podcast 18
Combs and Restrepo Receive NSF CAREER Project Awards
Why Starship’s Explosion Spells Much Bigger Troubles for SpaceX
Mysterious spiral over Alaska probably a result of SpaceX launch
How X-planes may solve the sonic boom problem
UTSA researcher Chris Combs explores new frontiers in state-of-the-art hypersonics lab
This selfie above China’s balloon was taken over Missouri. Here’s how we know that
George Jetson was born in 2022, so where are our flying cars?
Clip shows rocket in Kazakhstan, not ‘strange light’ before Turkey quake
San Antonio profs are grappling with that AI thing that helps students write — and maybe cheat
The race to field America’s first hypersonic aircraft
Video: Shock Waves, Expansion Fans & Supersonic Flow – Dr. Chris Combs | Podcast #88
American technology boosts China’s hypersonic missile program
NASA’s Artemis program has San Antonio, South Texas connections
Flying Commercially at Supersonic Speed Could be in Our Future
UTSA unveils new master’s program that prepares students for careers in aerospace engineering
Graduate degree will prepare UTSA students for high-demand careers in aerospace engineering
Everything We Know About the Air Force’s Secret Plan to Develop a Hypersonic Bomber
Russia’s bluster over International Space Station
UFOs, a portal to another dimension? We verify the origin of the spiral of light seen in New Zealand
The University of Texas at San Antonio leads materials separation study
Video: Russia and China are ahead of US in hypersonic missile technology. Here’s why
Thread on Boeing Starliner Design
‘Space Jellyfish’ mystery solved after bizarre glow lights up skies and baffles locals
How Russia Beat America to the Hypersonic Missile
What are hypersonic weapons and is Russia’s use of them in Ukraine the start of a new arms race?
How will the Russian invasion impact U.S.-Russia cooperation in space?
This Week in CFD (Feb. 25, 2022)
10 Biggest Myths in (High-Speed) Aerodynamics
NASA Announces End To ISS, Plans Crash Into Pacific Ocean
Check Out This New Rendering Of Boeing’s Hypersonic Aircraft Design
Commentary: Time for Elon to lead as a human, too
A New Hypersonic Wind Tunnel Will Put China ’20 to 30 Years Ahead’ of the West
Father of five juggles family and research to earn master’s degree
Commentary: Other close encounters to watch for
Hypersonic ‘arms race risks military misstep’ from China, US and Russia
UTSA’s hypersonics research brings new opportunities for innovation, student growth
Dr. Christopher Combs to lead research into hypersonic separation events
Texas University opens hypersonic wind tunnel
New hypersonic facility accelerates UTSA as leader in aerospace projects
‘7 times the speed of sound’: UTSA goes hypersonic to study the next generation of flight
Chances of falling Chinese rocket landing in populated area? Slim … but not none
This Is What It Would Be Like to Ride Starship During Its Epic “Belly Flop” Maneuver
How hypersonics research at UTSA will propel Mars missions and more
United’s emergency landing might not be an isolated incident
Accelerator: NASA’s Perseverance lands, San Antonio hypersonics lab rises
Spaceplanes: The return of the reusable spacecraft?
Hypersonics Project Aims to Transform Sensing for High-Speed Vehicles
Could I Climb Into a SpaceX Cargo Rideshare and Yeet Myself Into Space?
New high-tech video camera creating unique opportunities
Port San Antonio hailed as ideal space to launch Space Command
Graduate School Application Advice from Dr. Chris Combs
Russia, China, the U.S.: Who Will Win the Hypersonic Arms Race?
Raw Speed: The Extreme Conditions of Hypersonic Flight
University leading effort to prep for local aerospace economy
NASA visit to UTSA highlight’s CAMEE’s first anniversary
Airplane Geeks Podcast Ep. 622: Hypersonic Flight w/ Dr. Chris Combs
The sky is the limit for UTSA students selected for NASA competition
UTSA’s NASA advanced measurements center hosts inaugural conference
NASA looks to UTSA to help expand field of STEM researchers
USAF Errantly Reveals Research On ICBM-Range Hypersonic Glide Vehicle
Extreme environments center hosts virtual teacher workshop
The Need for Speed (and Maneuverability)
Researchers receive funding to study hypersonic flight environments
This Proposed Plasma Jet Technology Could Someday Change Space Travel
This Scientist Says He’s Built a Jet Engine That Turns Electricity Directly Into Thrust
Thread on Turbine-Based Combined Cycle Engines
Chinese Rocket ‘Size of a Large Van’ Falls Uncontrollably Back to Earth
Coast-To-Coast in 30 Minutes: Solving the Physics of Hypersonic Flight
Combs receives USAF grant to study effects of hypersonic shock waves
BBC Newsday: Update on Russian Avangard Hypersonic Weapon (Audio at 18:20)
Russian intercontinental hypersonic weapon has become operational
Air Force awards grants to 40 scientists and engineers through young investigator research program
At the Heart of Aerospace: San Antonio, Texas
CPS Energy supports clean energy and grid cybersecurity research at UTSA
Apprenticeship Programs Are Too Few And Far Between
UTSA wins $3M NASA award to launch extreme environments center
SwRI, UTSA researchers create innovative model for sCO2 power generation
UTSA to receive $3M NASA grant for space research
NASA Awards Universities Funding That May Support Moon to Mars
VPREDKE Seeds Innovation with $430,000 in funding to UTSA Faculty
UTSA launching aerospace engineering certificate
UTSA College of Engineering soars with new aerospace engineering certificate