Explora has been from the very beginning, a collaboration of great visions.  It began around 1983 with two individual groups who with no knowledge of each other’s existence had similar ideas: the first group envisioned a “children’s exploratorium,” while the second had the idea of a “science and technology exploratorium.” Since the merging of the two ideals in 1995 Explora has been, and will continue to be, a learning place for people of all races, ages, genders, abilities, and backgrounds.

Independent Research & Development (IR&D) is a key source of innovation for the department. In 2010, under the Better Buying Power 1.0 initiative, DoD staff engaged with industry and government to learn about what we could to improve IR&D effectiveness. The key challenge identified was communication—industry wanted information about Department investment priorities to better help them plan their IR&D investment projects and DoD planning was hampered by limited insight into industry IR&D projects.

Gain expert knowledge and sharpen your competitive edge with the AFRL Small Business Hub. Access curated resources, events, and networking opportunities to successfully partner with the AFRL.

Our mission: We help the United States Air and Space Forces find innovative solutions to tough, urgent, real world, installation and mission support (I&MS) challenges. We are the primary I&MS innovation hub for the Air and Space Forces. Our team helps decision makers at headquarters and the bases build partnerships with industry and Airmen/Guardian innovators, navigate the innovation ecosystem, and provide funding and program support. We execute proofs of concepts of ideas that can deliver faster, leaner, and more resilient capabilities.

As a  Department of Defense (DoD) Field Activity, DTIC operates under the leadership of the Secretary of Defense and reports to the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering USD(R&E).  DTIC supports the USD(R&E)'s efforts to mitigate new and emerging threat capabilities, enable affordable or extended capabilities in existing military systems, and develop technology surprise through engineering by:

SSC solution to the space acquisition labyrinth challenge, and is the one-stop-shop for learning about and engaging with SSC.