Graduate students Ryan McKee, Andrew Basin, and Nina Otebele in mission control. (Credit: Georgia Tech)
ATLANTA - Georgia Tech students made initial contact last week with a satellite launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket to test next-generation space propulsion systems, according to the university.
Student satellite operations
What we know:
Atlanta campus control
A team of student operators at Georgia Tech sent their first command — "Go Jackets!" — to the small satellite on Thursday at 6:21 p.m.
Operating out of the Space Systems Design Laboratory Mission Operations Center in Atlanta, the students will run daily shifts to track and control the spacecraft during a nine-month demonstration, officials explained.
The satellite, known as the ASCENT Propulsion Dual Mode spacecraft, lifts into low Earth orbit at an altitude near 500 kilometers.
That orbit puts the satellite higher than the International Space Station.
Spacecraft propulsion testing
Dual-mode fuel system
The NASA-supported mission focuses on testing a propulsion system that operates on a single fuel source.
The single propellant allows operators to switch between rapid, high-thrust chemical maneuvers and low-power, high-efficiency electric thrust.
The spacecraft runs on a less-toxic propellant called ASCENT, which offers a safer alternative to volatile hydrazine fuels.
Student controllers plan to execute more than 1,000 hours of propulsion testing while driving the spacecraft up and down a 5-kilometer altitude range.
Student flight readiness
Hands-on space experience
The project is the culmination of three years of designing, building and testing by Georgia Tech students working alongside university faculty and NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center.
The student team completed flight-certification training in ground station operations, command sequencing and telemetry analysis to prepare for the flight.
Master’s student Ryan McKee serves as mission operations manager, leading a student crew that includes Ph.D. student Andrew Basin.
Georgia Tech students previously contributed to NASA spaceflight operations in 2021 on the Lunar Flashlight CubeSat Mission.
What we don't know:
Officials have not stated the exact final date for mission completion or specific schedule milestones within the nine-month flight timeline.
The Source: The information in this story was gathered from Georgia Tech, which detailed the launch, satellite contact times and student flight operations, as well as NASA.