 | |
| Motto | Critical Contributions to Critical Challenges |
|---|---|
| Established | 1942 |
| Research type | Unclassified / classified |
| Budget | $2.09 billion[1] |
| Director | Dr.Dave Van Wie |
| Staff | 8,800[2] |
| Location | Laurel,Maryland, U.S. |
Operating agency | Johns Hopkins University |
| Website | www |
TheJohns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (also known simply asApplied Physics Laboratory orAPL) is a not-for-profit,United States Navy-sponsored,university-affiliated research center (UARC) inHoward County, Maryland, United States.[3]
APL is affiliated withJohns Hopkins University and employs more than 8,800 people as of 2025.[4] APL conducts research, engineering and analysis to address national security and scientific challenges faced by the United States and its allies.[3] The Laboratory brings together technical expertise, longstanding experience and specialized facilities to support rapid prototyping and long-term research and development. APL works across a range of domains, contributing to both operational systems and foundational science and technology.[5]
The Laboratory serves as a technical resource for every branch of theDepartment of Defense,[6] the Intelligence Community,[7] theDepartment of Homeland Security,[8]NASA,[9] and other government agencies, along with industry. APL has developed numerous systems and technologies in the areas of air and missile defense,[10] surface and underseanaval warfare,computer security, andspace science and spacecraft construction. The Lab's work spans 13 mission areas, including applications from undersea systems and cyber operations to biological sciences and space exploration. Multidisciplinary teams integrate domain expertise and systems engineering to support a range of government missions.[5]
APL was established in 1942 duringWorld War II under theOffice of Scientific Research and Development's Section T as part of the government's effort to mobilize the nation's science and engineering expertise within its universities. Its founding director wasMerle Anthony Tuve, who led Section T throughout the war.[11]
Section T was created on Aug. 17, 1940. According to the official history of the Office of Scientific Research and Development,Scientists Against Time, APL was the name of Section T's main laboratory from 1942 onward, not the name of the organization overall.[12] Section T's Applied Physics Laboratory succeeded in developing thevariable-time proximity fuze, which played a significant role in the Allied victory.[13] In response to the fuze's success, APL created the MK 57 gun in 1944.[14]
Pleased with APL's work, the Navy tasked the Laboratory with the mission to find a way to negate guided missile threats. From then on, APL became heavily involved in air and missile defense research. Expected to disband at the end of the war, APL instead became deeply engaged in the development of guided missile technology for the Navy. At the government’s request, the University continued to maintain the Laboratory as a public service.[15]
APL was originally located inSilver Spring, Maryland in a used-car garage[16] at the Wolfe Building at 8621 Georgia Avenue.[17][18] APL began moving to Laurel in 1954 with the construction of a $2 million building and a $700,000 wing expansion in 1956. The final staff transitioned to the new facility in 1975. Before moving to Laurel, APL also maintained the “Forest Grove Station,” north of Silver Spring on Georgia Avenue near today'sForest Glen Metro, which included a hypersonic wind tunnel.[19] The Forest Grove Station was vacated and torn down in 1963, and flight simulations were moved to Laurel. In the 1960s, APL built two early and pioneering autonomous robots, or “mobile automatons,” called Ferdinand and theJohns Hopkins Beast.
The Laboratory's name comes from its origins inWorld War II, but APL's major strengths aresystems engineering and prototyping solutions to complexnational security and scientific challenges with technical expertise,research and development, and analysis. More than 80% the staff are technical professionals, including nearly 1,500 Ph.Ds., and a majority of staff have degrees in engineering, math, computer science, physics, biology or similar fields.[4]
APL conducts programs in fundamental and applied research; exploratory and advanced development; test and evaluation; andsystems engineering and integration.[5] In addition to its sponsored work, APL maintains a robust internal research and development program that provides seed funding for exploration of innovative ideas and concepts to address the nation’s future challenges.[20]
During the 1950s and ‘60s, APL worked with the Navy on the Operation Bumblebee Program, which produced theRIM-2 Terrier,RIM-8 Talos, andRIM-24 Tartar surface-to-air missile systems.[21] The follow-onTyphon missile project, based on improved Talos and Tartar missiles, was successful but was cancelled in 1963 because of high costs. It was eventually developed into theStandard Missile and the now well-knownAegis combat system, based on an improved Terrier.[22]
APL led the development of the transformational system needed to demonstrateballistic missile defense (BMD) from the sea. The resulting experiments proved that BMD technology could be integrated with a Navy weapon system to “hit a bullet with a bullet” in space from sea.[23]
In 1990, APL contributed toOperation Desert Storm, including work in the Gulf Crisis Room and other efforts.[24]
The modern Applied Physics Laboratory is located inLaurel, Maryland, and spans 461 acres with more than 30 buildings on site. Additional auxiliary campuses exist in the surrounding areas. The campus includes multiple innovation and collaboration spaces, as well as test facilities and more than 800 labs. APL also operates field offices across the nation that are closely aligned with theDepartment of Defense and other sponsor facilities.[5]
In 2021, APL opened an interdisciplinary research center, Building 201, with 263,000 square feet of space, a 200-person auditorium and more than 90,000 square feet of specialized laboratory space. The building also includes a four-story atrium, aSTEM center and 100 huddle conference and auditorium breakout rooms. In 2025, the building was renamed the Ralph D. Semmel Center for Innovation in honor of APL’s eighth director,Ralph Semmel, who led the Laboratory from 2010 to 2025.
APL is also home to a Johns HopkinsWhiting School of Engineering (WSE) part-time graduate program in engineering and applied sciences for APL staff members and the public, called Engineering for Professionals (EP).[citation needed]
Up to 75% of EP students now come from outside APL. The faculty includes scientists and engineers from APL and WSE; from regional aerospace, engineering and information technology companies; and government agencies. EP offers master’s degrees in 25 areas, 14 of which are based at APL and chaired by APL’s technical professional staff members. Courses are taught at seven locations in theBaltimore-Washington metropolitan area, including the APL Education Center.[33]
APL'sSTEM Academy includes several programs that provide a pathway to science, technology, engineering and math careers for students in grades 3–12. APL’s core programs are designed to be complementary and are grounded in an integrated model that ensures children learn about what being a STEM professional means.[citation needed]
Programs include Maryland MESA, an after-school offering for students in grades 3-12; the STEM Academy, an after-school course program for middle and high school students in grades 8-12; APL's Student Program to Inspire, Relate and Enrich (ASPIRE), which allows high school juniors and seniors to experience and explore STEM careers before college; and Pathways, APL’s college internship program.[34]
APL operates across 13 mission areas,[4] encompassing disciplines such as undersea systems,space exploration,cybersecurity andbiological sciences. Its teams apply systems engineering and technical expertise to support the development, testing and integration of technologies fornational security and scientific research.[5][35]
The Laboratory works in coordination with government sponsors and industry partners to align research and development priorities with mission needs. Its efforts focus on transitioning technologies into operational use, supporting both prototype development and broader implementation by external organizations.[36]
APL's portfolio includes longstanding areas of work such asair andmissile defense andundersea warfare, as well as research addressing emerging domains and strategic priorities. These include autonomous systems, hypersonic systems, survivability and performance, artificial intelligence, assured autonomy,biomanufacturing and next-generation materials.[37]
APL plays a significant role in air and missile defense,hypersonics, strike and power projection, submarine security, antisubmarine warfare, strategic systems evaluation and cyber operations to support national security. Historical contributions include the radioproximity fuze andsurface-to-air missiles.[38][39]
Recent efforts have included theAegis Weapon System[40] andCooperative Engagement Capability. These efforts and others address global threats, enabling the military to detect, track and intercept threats such asballistic missiles,cruise missiles anduncrewed aerial vehicles.
APL’s work in advancing additive manufacturing focuses onmaterials science,precision engineering andrapid prototyping to support operational readiness, particularly in remote and extreme environments.[41]
APL has played a critical role in advancing a precise metal 3D-printing process to support ship maintenance and repair at sea. In 2023, when a Navy ship encountered a material failure in a key component, APL and the ship’s crew reverse-engineered the part to create a digital file and additively manufacture it in just five days — a fraction of the time it would take for traditional procurement.[41][42] APL continues to explore advanced fabrication methods to enable maintenance, repair and mission resilience in contested or resource-limited settings.
APL conducts research inartificial intelligence,[6]machine learning and autonomous systems across domains such as defense, healthcare and space. Efforts include developing secure, reliable algorithms and platforms with an emphasis on human–machine teaming and system transparency.[43] APL also explores alternative computing paradigms, including quantum information science and neuromorphic architectures, to support advanced autonomy and communications.
Researchers from APL have helped accelerate the delivery of autonomous systems to warfighters through a program under the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering to rapidly integrate, test and assess low-cost uncrewed maritime systems.[44]
APL has built and operated many NASA spacecraft, includingNEAR Shoemaker;ACE (Advanced Composition Explorer);TIMED;CONTOUR;MESSENGER;STEREO (A & B);Van Allen Probes;New Horizons;Parker Solar Probe; theDART planetary-defense mission; and theIMAP heliophysics mission. APL has also provided major systems and instruments for other NASA efforts, includingEZIE (Electrojet Zeeman Imaging Explorer),Lunar Vertex, and hardware/instruments forEuropa Clipper.[45][46][47][48][49][50]
APL’s space work began in the late 1950s/early 1960s with Navy-sponsored satellites such as theTransit (satellite) navigation system and laterGeosat. In the early 1990s, NASA established theDiscovery Program for competitively selected, cost-capped, principal-investigator-led planetary missions; APL builtNEAR Shoemaker, the program’s first mission, and later developedMESSENGER, the first Mercury orbiter.[51][52][53] In November 2021, APL’s DART spacecraft launched and on 26 September 2022 deliberately impacted the asteroid moonletDimorphos, measurably shortening its orbital period aroundDidymos by about 33 minutes—the first demonstration of kinetic asteroid deflection.[54]
APL’s space work is managed by the Lab's Space Exploration Sector. The sector manages spacecraft integration high bays and cleanrooms; environmental test facilities (“shake and bake”), such as thermal-vacuum chambers and vibration tables; and a Multi-Mission Operations Center that can operate several spacecraft concurrently from pre-launch through end-of-mission.[55][56][57][58]
In 2024, the team of engineers and scientists from APL, NASA and more than 40 other partner organizations across the country that created the Parker Solar Probe were awarded the 2024Robert J. Collier Trophy by theNational Aeronautic Association (NAA).[59] In 2024, during its record-breaking pass by theSun, NASA's Parker Solar Probe captured new images from the Sun's atmosphere – the closest ever taken to the Sun.[60]
Ongoing and upcoming missions. In 2019, NASA selected the APL-proposedDragonfly rotorcraft as the fourthNew Frontiers mission, a relocatable lander designed to fly to multiple sites onTitan to study prebiotic chemistry and potential habitability.[61] APL also manages NASA’sParker Solar Probe, which on December 24, 2024, became the closest human-made object to the Sun, approaching to about 3.8 million miles (6.2 million kilometers) above the solar surface and matching that record again in 2025.[62][63] In heliophysics, APL operates theInterstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP), Launched in 2025 to map the boundary of the heliosphere and study the acceleration of energetic particles.[64][65]
Theasteroid132524 APL was named in honor of APL after a flyby by theNew Horizons spacecraft.[66]
APL conducts research inneuroengineering,brain–computer interfaces, advancedprosthetics, public healthdigital twins,[67] and biological systems to drive innovative medical applications for the military and emergency situations.[68] These efforts include augmented reality-assisted medical care for emergency response and abrain organoid platform to study the effects of mild blast-induced traumatic brain injury.[69]
In 2014, APL led the DARPA-funded Revolutionizing Prosthetics program, culminating in the development of the Modular Prosthetic Limb — a fully artificial articulated arm and hand.[70] The device was successfully controlled by a bilateral shoulder-level amputee, using pattern recognition algorithms that tracked muscle contractions to move the prosthetic in conjunction with the amputee's body.
APL extended the technology in a 2016 demonstration in which a paralyzed man was able to “fist-bump” with then-PresidentBarack Obama using signals sent from an implanted brain chip.[71] The limb also returned sensory feedback from the arm to the wearer's brain. In 2023, APL researchers developed a wearable thin-film thermoelectric cooler (TFTEC) — one of the world's smallest, most intense and fastest refrigeration devices. The TFTEC helps amputees perceive a sense of temperature with their phantom limbs.[72] The technology won anR&D 100 Award in 2023[73] and in collaboration with Samsung,[74] APL researchers have extended the TFTEC technology to practical solid state refrigeration applications.[75]
In January 2020, as theCOVID-19 pandemic emerged,Johns Hopkins University launched the Coronavirus Resource Center — commonly known as the COVID-19 dashboard — which became the most widely used and trusted source for near-real-time global data on the pandemic.[76] The dashboard was initially developed by a team at theWhiting School of Engineering led by associate professor Lauren Gardner.[77] As the volume of incoming data quickly overwhelmed manual processing, the university turned to APL. Researchers at APL automated thedata collection,aggregation andcuration processes, and contributed essentialanalysis andvisualizations. Their work was instrumental in maintaining the accuracy and usability of the dashboard, which served governments, media and the public throughout the pandemic.[76]
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)39°09′55″N76°53′50″W / 39.16528°N 76.89722°W /39.16528; -76.89722
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