Prepare for Liftoff: KU Aerospace Engineering Students Finalizing Plans to Launch CubeSat
A group of engineering students at the University of Kansas expects to launch a small satellite, called a CubeSat, aboard a NASA rocket later this year.
CubeSats are tiny “nanosatellites” about the size of a loaf of bread, weighing in around 3 pounds, and are launched under a NASA program that offers educational institutions and nonprofit organizations a chance to share space on its rockets. Members of the “KUbeSat” team expect the university’s first satellite to reach orbit with a launch in June.
“The goal behind the CubeSat Launch Initiative is they want every single state in the country to launch a satellite,” said Arno Prinsloo, a doctoral student in engineering from Belton, Missouri, who serves as project manager for the effort. “And the weird thing is, Kansas hasn't done that. So we're actually aiming to build the first satellite ever out of Kansas.”