In Development

REAL logo, shows a CubeSat in orbit around the Earth measuring waves

REAL

The overarching objective for the REAL (Relativistic Electron Atmospheric Loss) CubeSat is to improve our understanding of the physical mechanisms responsible for scattering radiation belt electrons into the atmosphere.

IMPRESS title overlayed over oval

IMPRESS

The IMPRESS mission (Impulsive Phase Rapid Energetic Solar Spectrometer) is a 3U CubeSat designed to investigate particle acceleration in solar flares.

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MUSE (BUBO)

The BUBO instrument is the successor to CAPRI-SUN. Instead of being launched on a sounding rocket, it will be a payload on the MUSE satellite being built by Lockheed Martin.

 

 

Ongoing

an arc of seven circles extends over FURST with the middle circle being the Sun

FURST

FURST (Full-Sun Ultraviolet Rocket Spectrometer) is a sounding rocket mission that will attain the first high-resolution, radiometrically-calibrated spectrum of the Sun's vacuum ultraviolet rays.

logo showing a rocket flying in an arc from Earth, towards a solar flare

Hi-C Flare (CAPRI-SUN)

The CAPRI-SUN instrument is intended to capture soft X-ray time series from solar flares at an unprecedented 1-kHz cadence. CAPRI-SUN will be part of the Hi-C (High-resolution Coronal Imager) Flare sounding rocket mission.

BOOMS title overlayed on oval

BOOMS

BOOMS is a high-altitude balloon mission that is intended to observe flashes of X-rays in the polar atmosphere known as microbursts.

SFXTI logo showing a snowflake superimposed on the Sun

SFXTI (EISSFLAIX)

The SFXTI instrument (also known internally as EISSFLAIX) is a derivation of the IMPRESS instrument that is intended to collect data from solar radiation on the exterior of the ISS.

RadPC logo, shows a solar flare extending out to an M on the lunar surface

RadPC-Lunar

The RadPC payload is an experiment for testing the reliability of a radiation tolerant computer system when exposed to solar radiation on the Moon's surface.

SSEL Ground Station antenna array on the roof of Cobleigh Hall

Ground Station (K7MSU)

SSEL's ground station, callsign K7MSU, was setup to track SSEL satellites, as well as other ameature-band satellites.

 

 

Completed

IT-SPINS logo, shows the cubesat orbiting the EARTH with an antenna deployed

IT-SPINS

The Ionospheric-Thermospheric Scanning Photometer for Ion-Neutral Studies (IT-SPINS) mission proposes to provide the first two-dimensional (2D) tomographic imaging from a 3U research CubeSat, addressing the basic nature of the nocturnal ionosphere.

FIREBIRD 2 mission patch, featuring a phoenix surrounded by a banner representing the Van Allen belt

FIREBIRD II

The FIREBIRD II mission (Focused Investigations of Relativistic Electron Burst Intensity, Range, and Dynamics) was a targeted, goal-directed, space weather CubeSat mission to resolve the spatial scale size and energy dependence of electron microbursts in the Van Allen radiation belts.

FIREBIRD 1 mission patch, featuring a phoenix encircled by a banner representing the Van Allen belts

FIREBIRD

The FIREBIRD mission sought to accomplish the same goals as its successor FIREBIRD II, which was to resolve the spatial scale size and energy dependence of electron microbursts in the Van Allen radiation belts. 

Explorer 1 Prime mission patch, featuring HRBE in orbit around the Earth

HRBE - EP1

The Hiscock Radiation Belt Explorer (HRBE), named in honor of Dr. William A. Hiscock, founder of the Montana Space Grant Consortium, launched from Vandenberg Airforce Base in California on October 28, 2011.

EDSN mission logo, featuring four CubeSats in a tight array orbiting the Earth

EDSN 

The Edison Demonstration of Smallsat Networks (EDSN) mission sought to demonstrate the use of inter-satellite communications across a swarm of eight small satellites to collect and relay multipoint, scientific measurements from a loose formation orbiting about 500 km above Earth. 

IRIS mission patch, featuring a prism separating light rays out of a solar flare

IRIS

The primary goal of the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) explorer was to understand how the solar atmosphere is energized. The IRIS investigation combined advanced numerical modeling with a high resolution UV imaging spectrograph.

MOSES mission patch, featuring differently colored light rays focusing down onto a mirror

MOSES & ESIS

Our next-generation imaging spectrographs, MOSES (Multi-Order Extreme Ultraviolet Spectrograph) and ESIS (Extreme Ultraviolet Snapshot Imaging Spectrograph), obtained spectroscopic data over a wide field of view in every exposure. We were able to get comprehensive observational access to the physics of reconnection events, for the first time observing reconnection “from the inside out.”

3D rendering of PrintSat laying on its side with the logo facing towards the reader

PrintSat

The PrintSat mission was a technology demonstration to access the effectiveness of additive manufacturing (i.e. 3D printing) and the Windform XT material for use as a material for space structures.