Colorado Startup Week Showcase at CU & NASA's IMAP Mission Prepares for Launch
This week's space and innovation news includes a Colorado Startup Week showcase hosted by the University of Colorado, highlighting campus and community entrepreneurship, and NASA's IMAP mission, targeting a September 2025 launch to map the solar system's boundaries.
CU Hosts Startup Showcase for Colorado Startup Week
The University of Colorado is hosting a startup showcase in Denver on Monday as part of Colorado Startup Week, a free statewide event promoting entrepreneurship, innovation, and community. The event aims to connect CU campuses with the wider community.
Ashley Tillman, event organizer, emphasized the importance of "building bridges between campus and community to take ideas that can make breakthrough changes, whether that's in healthcare or in deep tech."
The showcase takes place from noon to 5 p.m. Monday at Denver's Civic Center building, 144 W. Colfax Ave. Over 50 innovators, entrepreneurs, and industry leaders will be present, along with a keynote session and a networking happy hour.
Justin Whiteley, CEO and cofounder of Kioga, a CU Boulder startup, will be showcasing his company's work on postbiotics for metabolic health. He hopes to raise awareness and gain exposure for Kioga.
For more information and registration, visit innovate-cu-showcase.my.canva.site/cushowcase2025.
SpaceX Targets Sept. 23, 2025 for NASA's IMAP Mission
NASA's Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP) spacecraft is on track for its scheduled Sept. 23, 2025 launch, with SpaceX preparing to launch three spacecraft on a mission to study the Sun's influence throughout the solar system.
A Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to lift off from Launch Complex-39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 7:32 a.m. EDT (1132 GMT). The payload includes IMAP, the Space Weather Follow-on (SWFO-L1) spacecraft from NOAA, and NASA's Carruthers Geocorona Observatory.
The satellites are destined for the Earth-sun Lagrange Point-1 (L1), a stable location 930,000 miles (1.5 million kilometers) from Earth. IMAP will map the outer boundary of the heliosphere, while the other spacecraft will monitor space weather and study Earth's exosphere.
"IMAP will provide warnings beginning with Artemis 2 and Artemis 3 of incoming harmful radiation storms faster than any other spacecraft has done before," said Nicky Fox, associate administrator of NASA's Science Mission Directorate.
David McComas, principal investigator for the mission, stated that IMAP data "will help us better understand the fundamental physics of the heliosphere" and its role in shielding Earth and spacefarers from cosmic rays.
Other Space News Highlights
Other recent space news includes:
- The Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex offering free child admission throughout September for "Future Voyagers Month."
- SpaceX targeting Monday night to launch an Indonesian satellite from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
- Potential delays to Florida airline flights due to future SpaceX Starship launches and landings from KSC.
- The preparation of NASA's IMAP spacecraft in Titusville for its late September launch.
Stay tuned for updates on upcoming launches and space-related activities from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and NASA's Kennedy Space Center.
