Decentralizing Space Innovation: AEAS’s Researcher-Led Revolution with Aaron Wu

Aaron Wu discusses AEAS’s global student network, rocket tech challenges, NASA/FAA standards, sustainability in space, and cultivating next-gen aerospace leaders

If the next era of space exploration hinges on decentralized, student-led innovation, then AEAS逆熵航太 (Anti-Entropy Aerospace Society) is pioneering the model.

In this interview, Aaron Wu reveals how AEAS’s researcher-to-researcher collaboration, self-imposed NASA/FAA compliance, and deep technical focus forge a new paradigm, prioritizing elite talent cultivation over mass participation while inspiring K12 futures.

Interview with Aaron Wu

1. How does AEAS approach collaboration with other international organizations or space agencies, and what role do compliance standards like NASA and FAA play in your partnerships?

AEAS逆熵航太 (Anti-Entropy Aerospace Society) approaches international collaboration with innovations, technical excellence, and individual growth. We have more than 200 members across the world, and we expect our members to grow and connect with it. Rather than simply aligning with other legacy institutions, we seek to engage directly with researchers in those prestige institutions with more in-depth, technical questions, research methodologies, and flight heritages. We make friends with them directly, researcher to researcher, unlike most of the space community, who tend to make friends for political reasons.

While AEAS is an independent, non-government, non-profit aerospace organization, it holds itself to professional standards equivalent to those of established agencies. Compliance benchmarks such as NASA’s GEVS, FAA Part 101/107 regulations for unmanned flight, and ITAR considerations are proactively studied and integrated into AEAS’s design reviews, launch planning, and safety protocols, even when not strictly required. This voluntary adherence enhances AEAS’s credibility and facilitates smoother collaboration with both domestic and international entities.

2. Can you discuss any specific challenges AEAS faces when it comes to integrating new aerospace technologies with existing systems?

One of the biggest challenges that AEAS faced was the propellant development for our newest version of solid rocket booster. While the working principle behind the solid rocket booster may seem simple, the truth is that developing, testing, and implementing a high-performance formulation is one of the most complex, unforgiving tasks in student aerospace.

Project Groundlux, a rocket development project led by the Institute of Space Propulsion at NCKU, which is our flagship student organization under AEAS, encountered numerous challenges when it comes to new propellant system development. Many of the ingredients are either heavily regulated, hazardous to handle, or. Students have to formulate their own prop system without outsourcing all of these key components. The initial purity of our system is questionable; we face the challenge of precision formulation: even slight deviations in particle size distribution, binder ratio, or plasticizer content can cause catastrophic shifts in burn rate, mechanical strength, or cure behavior. And unlike other engineering materials, you don’t get second chances, once mixed, the propellant begins to cure irreversibly.

Testing is equally unforgiving. You can’t just “print and iterate” like you would in software or even structures. Each test motor demands days of preparation, strict safety compliance, and destructive use of materials, molds, and igniters. And when a burn fails, whether by chuffing, overpressurization, or bonding failure, you don’t just lose data. You lose the entire test stand, and more importantly, you lose trust in your process, time on your schedule, and often a critical part of your hardware budget. Worse, you may never get clean data to do RCA: the motor is gone, the test stand is gone, and so is most of the evidence.

3. With the increasing interest in private space exploration, how does AEAS differentiate itself in terms of its mission, goals, and technological offerings?

Unlike most organizations, AEAS doesn’t target entry-level engagement. While others aim to bring more beginners through the door, AEAS invests its resources in cultivating deep expertise, rigorous engineering discipline, and technical mastery. In short, we don’t aim to make more people “get started” in aerospace, we aim to make the best even better.

We differentiate ourselves through a philosophy of depth over scale, prioritizing excellence, precision, and advanced systems thinking rather than broad market appeal or mass participation.

However, not focusing on entry-level engagement doesn’t mean we do not provide resources. In fact, more than 95% of AEAS events are completely FREE for K12 students. We believe that responsibility is a reflection of our response to our ability.

While we don’t focus on entry-level, we welcome any K12 kids to join our events, even if, as we often see, most of them won’t fully understand a single word. Why? Because inspiration starts with exposure, and the future often begins in the presence of something just out of reach.

4. What role do sustainability and environmental considerations play in AEAS’s aerospace projects, especially when planning for long-term space exploration missions?

Sustainability plays an integral role in AEAS’s aerospace projects, not as an afterthought but as a fundamental design constraint. From propulsion to recovery, every subsystem is evaluated for its environmental impact, whether that means exploring cleaner-burning propellant formulations, minimizing toxic byproducts, or designing hardware for full recovery and reuse. AEAS prioritizes closed-loop systems and long-term material durability to reduce waste and ensure that each mission leaves a minimal footprint, both on Earth and in space.

5. How does AEAS see the future of commercial space travel evolving, and what are the company’s plans to contribute to this rapidly changing landscape?

AEAS views the future of commercial space travel as a rapidly evolving ecosystem, one that will demand not only cutting-edge technology, but a new generation of engineers, thinkers, and systems leaders capable of driving it forward. While we don’t directly manufacture rockets for commercial spaceflight, our core mission is to develop the fuel behind the fuel: the people. We train individuals who will go on to lead propulsion teams, architect autonomous spacecraft, and solve the systems-level challenges that will define this new era.

By operating at the frontier of student-led aerospace innovation, building launch-ready vehicles, developing in-house propulsion systems, and adhering to NASA-grade engineering standards, AEAS serves as a crucible for future leaders in the commercial space sector. Our contribution is not a product, but a pipeline: we create the kind of talent and technical culture that the next phase of space exploration will rely on. As the industry grows, so will our alumni, and through them, AEAS will shape the trajectory of space travel from the inside out.