Category Archives: Space Radio

Amateur/Student Satellite, Education, Space Radio

Student satellite projects – July.2026

For many decades, students in university programs have designed and built small satellites and operated them in orbit. With the arrival of standardized Cubesat designs and hardware, high school and even grade school students have joined in the smallsat fun. Such endeavors grew out of the AMSAT initiative of the amateur radio community, which launched the first non-government satellites in 1961.  (For more smallsat history, see Satellite Building in the HS archives.) Note that the term Amateur Satellites refers to the use of amateur radio bands for communications, not the quality of the satellites.

Here is a brief sampling of recent student smallsat projects and programs:

**LionCub CubeSat  built by the students of the Columbia Space Initiative waits aboard ISS for deployment into orbit: Columbia Space Initiative’s ‘Lion Cub’ satellite reaches International Space Station | Columbia Spectator – June.11.2026

On April 11, student-built satellite Lion Cub arrived at the International Space Station aboard a SpaceX rocket. The nanosatellite is scheduled to remain docked at the ISS until June 29, when it will be deployed into low Earth orbit in what Smith described as “very ceremoniously for us, kind of unceremoniously in video, it just sort of gets ejected out of a launch rail.” At that point, Lion Cub will attempt its central mission: releasing a small stuffed Roaree and photographing it against the backdrop of space.

The CubeSat team first formed in 2022, when a group of students set out to build a satellite without fully knowing how they would get it to space. In 2023, the team proposed Lioness, CSI’s larger scientific satellite mission, and secured a NASA launch contract. The team later joined a multi-university collaboration led by California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, to build Lion Cub, a smaller proof-of-concept satellite that Archer Ankrum, SEAS ’29, a member of the structures team, described as “a test to prepare ourselves” for the full process before the stakes were higher.

** Qatar grade school students learn about the design, construction, and applications of smallsats: Students explore space tech through CubeSat challenge | Qatar Tribune – June.18.2026

More than 180 Grade-8 students at Qatar Academy Doha (QAD), a member of Qatar Foundation (QF), took part in the CubeSat Explorer Challenge- a hands-on learning experience organised by Boeing, INJAZ Qatar and Pure Minds Academy to spark early interest in space, satellite technology and other STEM-related careers.

“This programme didn’t just introduce students to space – it brought space to them. It’s no longer a distant concept, but an accessible, exciting career path they can pursue and build here in Qatar,” said Wael Zaoud, Boeing managing director for the Middle East and North Africa. “Qatar is steadily expanding its space capabilities and creating opportunities for the next generation of engineers and researchers. As a company that helped put the first human on the Moon, Boeing is proud to support young talent who will shape Qatar’s aerospace industry.”

The CubeSat Explorer Challenge introduced school students to the role satellites play in modern economies. Working in teams, students designed and built miniature satellite prototypes equipped with environmental sensors, programmed microcontrollers, collected live data and presented their findings. Through the experience, students gained insight into how satellite technologies support decision-making in areas such as air quality monitoring and climate research.

**  MARMOTSat CubeSat built by University of Victoria student team reaches orbit to study ionosphere: MARMOTSat takes flight: University of Victoria CubeSat launched into space | Canadian Space Agency – July.8.2026

University of Victoria's MARMOTSat satellite during integration at the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). (Credit: CSA)
“University of Victoria’s MARMOTSat satellite during integration at the Canadian Space Agency (CSA)”. Credit: Canadian Space Agency

More about MARMOSat:

MARMOTSat, the second CubeSat from UVic’s Centre for Aerospace Research (CfAR) and the UVic Satellite Design Team (UVSD) is set to launch in July aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The satellite has already been integrated into its deployment canister at the Canadian Space Agency, and the team expects it to reach orbit and deploy within hours of liftoff. 

Once in orbit, MARMOTSat will collect data on the structure and composition of the ionosphere, the charged layer of the Earth’s atmosphere that plays a role in everything from radio propagation to satellite navigation. Researchers are particularly interested in how the ionosphere is shifting in response to human-caused climate change, which is a connection that is still not well understood. 

** SNAPPY, the Solar Neutrino Astro-Particle PhYsics CubeSat. was developed by students and researchers at Wichita State University. The NASA funded spacecraft reached orbit on May 3, 2026 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched from Vandenberg AFB in California.

“The Solar Neutrino Astro-Particle PhYsics (SNAPPY) CubeSat being prepared for integration into the EXOpod Nova deployer.” Credits: NASA

** College of Charleston students built an imaging payload for a CubeSat that reached space in July: College of Charleston Small-Satellite Payload Launches to Space | Today at CofC- July.7.2026

Two College of Charleston students built ultraviolet imaging systems, one of which went to the ISS in April of 2026 and another was integrated into a Cubesat that reached orbit on July 7th:

** SPARCS ( Star-Planet Activity Research CubeSat) at Arizona State University

The Star-Planet Activity Research CubeSat (SPARCS) is a small space telescope about the size and shape of a family-size cereal box, launched on SpaceX rocket into low-earth orbit on January 11, 2026.

The science mission which SPARCS will undertake is monitoring the flares and sunspot activity of low-mass stars of M and K spectral type, in the far- and near-ultraviolet to assess how habitable the space environment is for planets orbiting these kinds of stars.

See also the interview with Danny Jacobs , Professor at Arizona State’s School of Earth and Space Exploration and Josh Sink, a student working on SPARCS:  ASU students are using a toaster-size satellite to search the galaxy for habitable planets | KJZZ.org – June.15.2026

BRODIE: What have you learned by doing this? Not necessarily just about sort of the data and what it is telling you, but maybe what have you learned about things that might interest you or about yourself or about sort of the universe more broadly?

SINK: Yeah, there’s there’s so many things that I’ve learned from this project. I think the realm of satellites in general, I really didn’t understand and the potential for science. So if our little toaster that’s out in space with a telescope is able to contribute to something as big as like looking for habitable planets and things like that, I think it really put in perspective like how cool science really is and how cool space is.

And on the technical side of things, I’ve learned a whole lot of data this, satellite that, right? But I think the absolute coolest thing is just the potential for what we can actually do out there.

** CUonOrbit is Carleton University’s CubeSat Team, which is developing a satellite to detect wildfires: Inside CUonOrbit: Carleton’s Student Team Reaches New Heights | Carleton  Faculty of Engineering and Design – May.19.2026

The club brings together more than 50 students passionate about aerospace, astrophysics and space technology. Through technical projects, outreach initiatives and industry engagement, the team has built a growing presence within Canada’s space sector while giving students direct experience in mission design, systems engineering and research collaboration.

Today, the team is working on one of its most ambitious initiatives yet: the development of Carleton’s first student-led 3U CubeSat focused on wildfire detection. Alongside the CubeSat mission, CUonOrbit has also completed three high-altitude balloon launches, with a fourth mission planned for summer 2026.

** PHAT-Sat (Precision Hyperspectral Agricultural Tracking Satellite) in development by the Wildcat Space Program at Kansas State University: Oberlin student part of Wildcat Space Program satellite design at K-State | Hays Post – May.24.2026

By 2030, the PHAT-Sat project plans to launch a three-unit CubeSat equipped with advanced, hyperspectral cameras that can point toward Kansas and the surrounding region and help detect crop health anomalies. Farmers and drought managers could then analyze that satellite imagery to implement precision agriculture techniques for better irrigation, resource management and sustainability.

In the meantime, the class decided to formulate a “pathfinder” mission to PHAT-Sat by spinning off what had previously been a smaller, secondary payload into NuKAT, a two-unit satellite tentatively set to launch in 2027.

NuKAT will help validate the Microstructured Semiconductor Neutron Detector — produced by the K-State-affiliated Radiation Detection Technologies Inc. — as a viable sensor for use in the various radiation environments found in space, said Colby Johnston, principal investigator for the NuKAT mission.

** SAL-E  becomes 13th smallsat from the PolySat Lab at Cal State Polytechnic University in  San Luis Obispo to reach orbit: Student researchers loft 13th satellite from Vandenberg in latest orbital win | Mustang News – May.24.2026

Students at Cal Poly’s hands-on aerospace lab watched months of design and late-night fabrication reach orbit when their latest CubeSat rode a launch vehicle out of Vandenberg late last month. The mission not only puts a small satellite into space — it also underlines how undergraduate labs are training the next generation of engineers in real flight operations. …

… Cal Poly’s PolySat Lab — a multidisciplinary, student-run workshop that builds compact research satellites — confirmed the CubeSat reached orbit after a launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base at about 4 a.m. on March 30. Ground teams have established two-way contact and continue to track and receive data from the spacecraft.

The SAL-E mission

is named after Astronaut Dr. Sally Ride, the first American woman in Space and an inspiration for women and the LGBTQ+ community. The objectives of this mission are to evaluate CPCL’s capability of designing, manufacturing, and testing a CubeSat while simultaneously providing a project management basis for future CPCL flight missions. SAL-E launched successfully on SpaceX’s Transporter 16 rideshare mission and first contact was made soon after.

The CubeSat concept was actually first developed by a collaboration between teams at Cal Poly and Stanford.

** CubeSat Demo, Space Tech Outreach Draw Students at IEEE WAMS-2026 in Narsapur | Deccan Chronicle – June.11.2026

A live CubeSat tracking demonstration and outreach sessions on space technology, healthcare and defence applications drew school students’ attention on the second day of the 5th IEEE Wireless, Antenna and Microwave Symposium (WAMS-2026) at a college in Narsapur.

**  LEOPARDSat-1 Cubesat built by the  CubeCats student group at the University of Cincinnati will soon be deployed from the ISS: Satellite built by local students set for deployment after months at space station | Local12 – July.1.2026

[CubeCats President Everett Metzler] said leaks on the International Space Station pushed back the deployment and that he only learned a few days ago it was going ahead. The deployment is the final step in a 10-year plan to deliver LeopardSat-1 from the maker space into the hands of a NASA astronaut.

“An astronaut is going put it inside of an airlock, and then put the deployer outside, and it’s going to launch into space. So, at first, it’s going to start tumbling, then it’s slowly going to detumble over time, and then after a few hours, it’s going to start and – hopefully – transmit back to us,” Metzler said.

Metzler said the satellite carries different carbon-based materials to test how they hold up against radiation in space. He said finding the right material could help make longer missions to the moon and even Mars possible.

The CubeCats’ work will continue after deployment. The group still has to record the data and is already planning its next satellite.

See also,

** KENSAT is a one person run project that will send a CubeSat

carrying an LLM into low earth orbit — designed, owned, and operated by a single individual rather than a state or a corporation. It performs inference in space, and beams the answer back to anyone listening.

The spacecraft’s owner Ken Chan has made the project open source: KENSAT, Edge-AI Compute in Orbit | GitHub. The spacecrat will run

… a large language model on-orbit. A power-gated NVIDIA Jetson Orin Nano executes neural-network inference in space, and the results are downlinked over a custom UHF radio link to amateur ground stations. 

The KENSAT spacecrate will go into

… a 520 km sun-synchronous orbit and circle the planet about sixteen times a day.

On board: a tiny always-on flight computer that keeps the satellite alive, a GPU that runs the language model, a UHF radio for talking to the ground, and a small lithium battery topped up by body-mounted solar panels.

The radio antenna is a pair of tape-measure strips that spring open the moment the satellite is ejected from its deployer. No motors, no actuators, no moving parts that can fail.

This article says KENSAT could reach orbit this fall: This Home-Built CubeSat Is Launching an LLM Into Orbit | Hackster.io – July.1.2026

Getting a complex electronics project off the ground is never easy, but Ken Chan’s latest creation presents some unique challenges. That’s because Chan’s project is designed to literally get off the ground — way off. It is called KENSAT, and it is a 2U CubeSat that is scheduled to go into orbit around the Earth this fall. Perhaps the coolest thing about KENSAT is that it’s not being built in a NASA clean room, but in Chan’s home lab.

Resources:

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Spacecraft Design for CubeSats – A Comprehensive Guide
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Amateur/Student Satellite, Space participation, Space Radio

AMSAT opens BuzzSat program for kids + Free intro book with AMSAT membership

AMSAT, the Amateur Radio in Space organization, has introduced the BuzzSat initiative, which aims

to encourage youth to pursue careers in aerospace and communications with an education science, technology, engineering art, and math (STEAM).

BuzzSat provides a set of free online courses, which currently includes:

An Introduction to Satellite Meteorology explores the many ways that NOAA satellites help meteorologists predict the immediate weather and long-term climate behavior to make our lives more enjoyable and safer. Start now by clicking on Introduction to Satellite Meteorology

Satellites and Climate Change begins with a review of the natural and man-made causes of climate change and how its impacts our lives over the short and long terms. 

Satellites and Pollution Control examines the root causes of pollution, both natural and man-made. It looks at the effects of pollution on our environment and our health. 

Several more courses will be added within the year.

Check out the BuzzSat coloring book, available as a free download.

“Satellites in Space” coloring book, free from AMSAT. Credits: AMSAT

BuzzSat designed the coloring book

… for kids with an interest in satellites and how they play a role in our modern lives.

The book is comprised of twelve 2-page spreads that show how satellites are used and the benefits they provide. Topics include satellites and:

Agriculture
Broadcasting
Communications
Climate Change
Pollution Control
Fighting Wildfires
Preserving Wildlife
Space exploration
Navigation
Meteorology
Research on the ISS
Search and Rescue

The book also includes a discussion guide for each topic. It is written for parents, group leaders or teachers who want to use the coloring books in their educational activities. But, not to worry – please use these coloring books for just plain fun.

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AMSAT  has a deal for joining. The  Feb. 22nd issue of the AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletin says:

AMSAT is offering a limited-time promotion for new and renewing members that includes a free digital copy of Getting Started with Amateur Satellites. The promotion is being offered as AMSAT begins the 2026 membership year.

Anyone who joins or renews their AMSAT membership during the promotional period will receive a download link for the latest edition of Getting Started with Amateur Satellites in their membership confirmation email. The guide is designed to help radio amateurs understand the fundamentals of satellite operation and serves as a practical reference for both newcomers and operators returning to the hobby. Additional information about AMSAT membership is available at https://launch.amsat.org.

Cover page for “Getting Started With Amateur Satellites”. Credits: AMSAT

In addition to this limited-time promotion, AMSAT membership includes a subscription to The AMSAT Journal, access to archived issues, discounts on selected items in the AMSAT online store, and opportunities to participate in AMSAT elections, committees, awards programs, and other AMSAT activities and programs. Members may also access archived proceedings from past AMSAT Space Symposiums through the AMSAT member portal.

Beyond these tangible benefits, AMSAT membership supports the development, launch, and operation of amateur radio satellites, along with education and outreach efforts. Joining AMSAT is not just about individual benefits — it is about being part of the community that builds and operates amateur satellites for radio amateurs worldwide. As AMSAT looks ahead to 2026, the promotion helps launch another year of growth and opportunity for amateur radio in space.

Astronomy, Education, Space Radio

ESO: Hot gas bubble observed orbiting the Milky Way’s supermassive black hole

A new report from the European Southern Observatory (ESO):

Astronomers detect hot gas bubble swirling around
the Milky Way’s supermassive black hole

This shows a still image of the supermassive black hole Sagittarius A*, as seen by the Event Horizon Collaboration (EHT), with an artist’s illustration indicating where the modelling of the ALMA data predicts the hot spot to be and its orbit around the black hole. Credits: ESO

Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), astronomers have spotted signs of a ‘hot spot’ orbiting Sagittarius A*, the black hole at the centre of our galaxy. The finding helps us better understand the enigmatic and dynamic environment of our supermassive black hole.

“We think we’re looking at a hot bubble of gas zipping around Sagittarius A* on an orbit similar in size to that of the planet Mercury, but making a full loop in just around 70 minutes. This requires a mind blowing velocity of about 30% of the speed of light!”

says Maciek Wielgus of the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy in Bonn, Germany, who led the study published today in Astronomy & Astrophysics.

The observations were made with ALMA in the Chilean Andes — a radio telescope co-owned by the European Southern Observatory (ESO) — during a campaign by the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) Collaboration to image black holes. In April 2017 the EHT linked together eight existing radio telescopes worldwide, including ALMA, resulting in the recently released first ever image of Sagittarius A*. To calibrate the EHT data, Wielgus and his colleagues, who are members of the EHT Collaboration, used ALMA data recorded simultaneously with the EHT observations of Sagittarius A*. To the team’s surprise, there were more clues to the nature of the black hole hidden in the ALMA-only measurements.

By chance, some of the observations were done shortly after a burst or flare of X-ray energy was emitted from the centre of our galaxy, which was spotted by NASA’s Chandra Space Telescope. These kinds of flares, previously observed with X-ray and infrared telescopes, are thought to be associated with so-called ‘hot spots’, hot gas bubbles that orbit very fast and close to the black hole.

“What is really new and interesting is that such flares were so far only clearly present in X-ray and infrared observations of Sagittarius A*. Here we see for the first time a very strong indication that orbiting hot spots are also present in radio observations,”

says Wielgus, who is also affiliated with the Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Centre, Poland and the Black Hole Initiative at Harvard University, USA.

“Perhaps these hot spots detected at infrared wavelengths are a manifestation of the same physical phenomenon: as infrared-emitting hot spots cool down, they become visible at longer wavelengths, like the ones observed by ALMA and the EHT,”

adds Jesse Vos, a PhD student at Radboud University, the Netherlands, who was also involved in this study.

The flares were long thought to originate from magnetic interactions in the very hot gas orbiting very close to Sagittarius A*, and the new findings support this idea.

“Now we find strong evidence for a magnetic origin of these flares and our observations give us a clue about the geometry of the process. The new data are extremely helpful for building a theoretical interpretation of these events,”

says co-author Monika Mościbrodzka from Radboud University.

This visible light wide-field view shows the rich star clouds in the constellation of Sagittarius (the Archer) in the direction of the centre of our Milky Way galaxy. The entire image is filled with vast numbers of stars — but far more remain hidden behind clouds of dust and are only revealed in infrared images. This view was created from photographs in red and blue light and form part of the Digitized Sky Survey 2. The field of view is approximately 3.5 degrees x 3.6 degrees. Credits: ESO

ALMA allows astronomers to study polarised radio emission from Sagittarius A*, which can be used to unveil the black hole’s magnetic field. The team used these observations together with theoretical models to learn more about the formation of the hot spot and the environment it is embedded in, including the magnetic field around Sagittarius A*. Their research provides stronger constraints on the shape of this magnetic field than previous observations, helping astronomers uncover the nature of our black hole and its surroundings.

The observations confirm some of the previous discoveries made by the GRAVITY instrument at ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), which observes in the infrared. The data from GRAVITY and ALMA both suggest the flare originates in a clump of gas swirling around the black hole at about 30% of the speed of light in a clockwise direction in the sky, with the orbit of the hot spot being nearly face-on.

“In the future we should be able to track hot spots across frequencies using coordinated multiwavelength observations with both GRAVITY and ALMA — the success of such an endeavour would be a true milestone for our understanding of the physics of flares in the Galactic centre,”

says Ivan Marti-Vidal of the University of València in Spain, co-author of the study.

The team is also hoping to be able to directly observe the orbiting gas clumps with the EHT, to probe ever closer to the black hole and learn more about it.

“Hopefully, one day, we will be comfortable saying that we ‘know’ what is going on in Sagittarius A*,”

Wielgus concludes.

This image shows the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) looking up at the Milky Way as well as the location of Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at our galactic centre. Highlighted in the box is the image of Sagittarius A* taken by the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) Collaboration. Located in the Atacama Desert in Chile, ALMA is the most sensitive of all the observatories in the EHT array, and ESO is a co-owner of ALMA on behalf of its European Member States. Credits: ESO

Links

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More Things in the Heavens:
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In Space Infrastructure, Living in Space, Space Radio, SpaceCasts

Videos: “Space to Ground” & other space habitat reports – June.17.2022

Here is the latest episode in NASA’s Space to Ground weekly report on activities related to the International Space Station:

** Expedition 67 Space Station Talks with NASA, European Space Agency, Italian Officials-June 17, 2022 – NASA Video

Aboard the International Space Station, Expedition 67 crew members Kjell Lindgren, Bob Hines and Jessica Watkins of NASA and Samantha Cristoforetti of ESA (European Space Agency) discussed life and work aboard the orbital outpost during an in-flight event June 17 with NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, ESA officials, and ministerial representatives in Rome. Lindgren, Hines, Watkins, and Cristoforetti are in the midst of a long-duration science mission living and working aboard the microgravity laboratory. The goal of their mission is to advance scientific knowledge and demonstrate new technologies for future human and robotic exploration missions as part of NASA’s Moon and Mars exploration approach, including lunar missions through NASA’s Artemis program.

** Inflight call with ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti – European Space Agency, ESA on Youtube

An educational in-flight call with ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti on board the International Space Station for teachers and students in Europe, connecting live with local events organised by ESERO Italy, ESERO Portugal and ESERO Luxembourg.

** China’s Shenzhou-14 Crew Busy with Various Tasks After 13 Days in Space Station – CCTV Video News Agency

The three Chinese astronauts who have been piloting the Shenzhou-14 spaceship are now busy with a slew of work tasks after the trio have spent 13 days at the Tianhe core module of China’s Tiangong space station.

** International Space Station Radios | Talk to Astronauts | Cross-Band Repeater Ops – Tim Kreitz Adventures

How to use the radios onboard the International Space Station, presented to the Midland Amateur Radio Club by W5GFO.

** ISS Live video stream – IBM/ISS HD Earth Viewing Experiment

Currently, live views from the ISS are streaming from an external camera mounted on the ISS module called Node 2. Node 2 is located on the forward part of the ISS. The camera is looking forward at an angle so that the International Docking Adapter 2 (IDA2) is visible. If the Node 2 camera is not available due to operational considerations for a longer period of time, a continuous loop of recorded HDEV imagery will be displayed. The loop will have “Previously Recorded” on the image to distinguish it from the live stream from the Node 2 camera. After HDEV stopped sending any data on July 18, 2019, it was declared, on August 22, 2019, to have reached its end of life. Thank You to all who shared in experiencing and using the HDEV views of Earth from the ISS to make HDEV so much more than a Technology Demonstration Payload!

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Education, Space participation, Space Radio

ARRL Foundation funds student space telerobotics initiative

An announcement from the ARRL Foundation and the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS-USA) organizations:

ARRL Foundation Grants First-Year Funding for
ARISS *STAR* Keith Pugh Initiative

A $47,533 ARRL Foundation grant will fund the initial phase of the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS‐USA) *STAR* Keith Pugh Memoriam Project. *STAR*, which stands for Space Telerobotics using Amateur Radio, honors the memory of Keith Pugh, W5IU, a highly respected member of the ARISS team who died in 2019. ARISS arranges live question-and-answer sessions via ham radio between International Space Station (ISS) crew members and students. A long-time and enthusiastic supporter of ARISS, Pugh was a star ARISS technical mentor, assisting schools with ARISS contacts, encouraging interest in ARISS among educators, and visiting schools to teach students about wireless radio technology. One goal of ARISS is to engage students in science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) subjects.

The ARISS *STAR* Project, is a new educational initiative that will enable US junior and senior high school groups to remotely control robots via ham radio through digital APRS (Automatic Packet Reporting System) commands. Year 1 will focus on systems development and initial validation of ARISS *STAR*, and year 2 will focus on evaluation and final validation.

Systems development and evaluation will be led by university staff and students who will undertake hands-on wireless and telerobotics lesson development, learn about amateur radio, and support *STAR* engineering hardware and software development.

Next, youth teams will be selected to experiment and critique *STAR* telerobotics scenarios in closed courses. In the process, ARISS will encourage students to prepare for and earn an FCC amateur radio license, enabling them to use ham radio to learn and practice concepts in radio technology and radio communication.

ARISS-USA Executive Director Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, praised the ARRL Foundation for its generosity.

“ARISS team member Keith Pugh, W5IU, poured his energy into inspiring, engaging, and educating youth in space and in amateur radio endeavors,” Bauer said. “What better way to honor Keith than through the ARISS *STAR* initiative. We thank the ARRL Foundation for its vision to move this initiative forward. Maybe someday one of our ARISS *STAR* students will use their telerobotics skills to control scientific rovers on the [m]oon or Mars!”

Over the past 2 decades, more than 1,400 ARISS contacts have connected more than 1 million youth with the ISS using amateur radio, with millions more watching and learning.

The overarching goals for *STAR* are to improve and sustain ARISS STEAM educational outcomes. Robotics is gaining popularity among youth and adults alike, and telerobotics adds a wireless accent to robotic control. This will expand ARISS’s educational dimension to attract the attention of more groups, students, and educators — outreach that promises to attract new audiences.

The ARRL Foundation was established in 1973, to advance the art, science, and social benefits of the Amateur Radio Service by awarding financial grants and scholarships to individuals and organizations that support their charitable, educational, and scientific efforts.

ARISS is a cooperative venture of international amateur radio societies and space agencies that support the ISS. US sponsors include ARRL, the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT), the ISS National Lab‐Space Station Explorers, and NASA’s Space Communications and Navigation program (SCaN). The primary goal of ARISS is to promote exploration of science, technology, engineering, the arts, and mathematics topics. For more information, visit www.ariss-usa.org and www.ariss.org.

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Introduction to CubeSat Technology and Subsystem:
Orbit Design, Debris Impact, and Orbital Decay Prediction