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CUE 2006

Aerospace engineering students (from left to right) Aaron Biel, Nick Bradley and Kenny Harcsztark work on a Geiger counter, which will be part of the first RocketSat payload launched this summer.

Colorado Space Grant Consortium (COSGC): Students to Launch Payload on Commercial Rocket Flight

The Colorado Space Grant Consortium initiated a new student program this spring in collaboration with UP Aerospace, a company formed by two of the individuals on the team that launched the first private rocket into space. The program, called RocketSat, offers CU-Boulder students the opportunity to launch a small, satellite-type payload into sub-orbital space aboard an UP Aerospace rocket.

The company's inaugural commercial rocket flight, with the first student payload on board, is scheduled to launch from the New Mexico Spaceport in July; a follow-on mission is expected in October.  Through the RocketSat program, COSGC hopes to provide annual launches for student payloads. 

RocketSat represents the next step for students who have successfully completed the BalloonSat program. While BalloonSat payloads reach an altitude of 100,000 feet, RocketSats fly up to 740,000 feet (140 miles), thus presenting new environmental and engineering challenges.

"We hope that the RocketSat program will provide new experiences for our undergraduate students," says COSGC Director Chris Koehler, "and perhaps ultimately a platform for college faculty working with our students to demonstrate their research in space."

Ten undergraduate students worked on the first RocketSat payload, which weighs two pounds and will measure cosmic rays and microwave radiation. The students designed, built, and tested all of the payload's subsystems, which will measure temperature, pressure, and acceleration during the flight. The October follow-on mission will involve a 10-pound payload, which will build upon the data collected during the first flight.