Colorado is pioneering future industries, from FDA-approved AI in prenatal care to crafting the Orion spacecraft for lunar missions.
COLORADO, USA — Two Colorado stories are commanding national attention this week. One is transforming prenatal medicine using artificial intelligence. The other is sending humans back to lunar orbit for the first time in more than half a century.
On today’s 9NEWS Business Buzz, 9NEWS Business Expert Ryan Frazier sits down with a Denver founder whose personal loss led to an FDA-cleared medical breakthrough — and with a Lockheed Martin executive helping lead America’s return to deep space.
Different industries. Same signal.
Colorado isn’t waiting for the future economy. It’s building it.
A Denver founder’s breakthrough in prenatal AI
Robert Bunn’s path to entrepreneurship began with heartbreak. After he and his wife endured 11 miscarriages, he set out to understand why.
That search led to the creation of Ultrasound AI, a Denver-based company that has now received FDA De Novo Clearance for its flagship platform, Delivery Date AI.
De Novo clearance is reserved for first-of-its-kind medical technologies. Delivery Date AI is the first artificial intelligence system authorized to predict time to delivery and preterm birth risk directly from standard ultrasound imaging.
No new machines. Just more intelligence extracted from images physicians already capture.
The software can operate as early as eight weeks into pregnancy and predicts delivery timing and preterm birth risk with reported accuracy exceeding 95 percent.
The implications are significant. Preterm birth affects roughly one in ten U.S. babies — nearly 380,000 newborns each year — and costs the healthcare system more than $30 billion annually. Earlier risk identification can mean earlier intervention, better outcomes, and potentially lower system-wide costs.
Ultrasound AI is not entering the market untested. The platform has already been deployed in South America, with clinical data from Chile and Brazil contributing to its FDA review.
Why it matters: AI in healthcare often promises efficiency. This is about predictive precision — and the economic impact of moving from reactive care to proactive intervention.
Colorado’s role in America’s return to the moon
The last time humans traveled beyond low Earth orbit was December 1972.
Artemis II will change that.
The Orion spacecraft — which will carry four astronauts on a lunar flyby — is being built in Littleton, Colorado, by Lockheed Martin Space. On today’s Business Buzz, Orion Deputy Program Manager Paul Anderson discusses what the mission means not just for NASA, but for Colorado’s aerospace workforce.
Colorado’s aerospace sector supports more than 230,000 jobs and contributes over $18 billion annually to the state’s economy. From Lockheed Martin Space to United Launch Alliance and BAE Systems, Colorado companies sit at the center of America’s most ambitious space initiatives.
When Artemis II lifts off, the engineering, manufacturing, and systems integration powering that mission will trace directly back to Colorado.
On March 16, industry leaders will gather at the State Capitol for Aerospace Day — a coordinated effort to align lawmakers around policies that protect and expand this economic engine.
With Artemis II approaching launch, that conversation carries new weight.
Why it matters: This is not just symbolic exploration. It is workforce development, advanced manufacturing, federal contracting leverage, and long-cycle economic investment concentrated in Colorado.
The bottom line
One story is about artificial intelligence reshaping prenatal medicine. The other is about a spacecraft carrying humans back to lunar orbit.
From FDA-cleared health technology to deep-space exploration, Colorado continues to anchor itself in industries that define the next generation of economic growth. Not participating. Leading.
