Students are working on projects all over campus, but not many can say their project leaves the planet.
A student-made satellite developed at Cal Poly’s PolySat Lab is scheduled to launch into space on March 29 aboard a SpaceX rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base, according to PolySat Education and Outreach Director Sage Russell.
Students in the Engineering IV-based lab have been building the satellite since 2023 under director John Bellardo, with support from local launch partner Maverick Space Systems, according to Russell.
The SAL-E satellite is an acronym for Streamlined Assembled Learning Experiment. The satellite is named after United States astronaut Sally Ride, the first American woman in space, electrical engineering junior Berfredd Quezon said.
The satellite will carry two payloads: a microchip being tested as a new technique for sensing radiation and a new radio communication device, according to Quezon.
Mechanical engineering sophomore Matthew Fletcher is grateful he gets the opportunity to work on satellites so early in his college education.
“It’s fairly unique that a college allows you as an undergrad to build satellites,” Fletcher said. “Being able to come as a freshman and say, ‘hey, I want to make a satellite,’ and then being given that opportunity is really amazing.”
Different teams handle everything from control systems and body manufacturing to electronics and software. These teams come together in the lab space to get these projects off the ground and into low Earth orbit.
“The main purpose of this lab is to give everyone an educational opportunity and an experience with satellites, but then also supporting their coursework,” said aerospace engineering sophomore Harper Dame.
Cal Poly’s revolutionary satellite design
The PolySat lab developed a type of satellite called CubeSats — small, cube-shaped satellites designed to be relatively low-cost and easy to construct. The satellites are roughly the size of a Rubik’s Cube and can be combined to make space for extra equipment.
CubeSats were first developed in a joint project between Cal Poly and Stanford in 1999 as a way for students to have a more hands-on approach to aerospace development, according to Dame. Although the first CubeSats launch occurred in 2003, the standard wasn’t finalized until 2004, according to the European Space Agency.
The CubeSat standard has helped revolutionize space travel, enabling organizations that previously had no access to space hardware to make satellites of their own at a small size and cost, according to the European Space Agency.
Cal Poly’s first successful launch was in 2007, deploying satellites CP3 and CP4 into orbit from Baikonur, Kazakhstan, according to the PolySat lab’s website. The team carried devices called magnetometers and experimental energy dissipation hardware, respectively. Since then, PolySat has successfully launched 11 satellites into orbit, and they have many more projects in the works.
Preparings students for successful careers
Both the students themselves and Bellardo are proud of their work and the future of PolySat graduates.
“I think it’s really important to recognize the hard work everyone puts in here at this lab,” said aerospace engineering junior Drew Stannard-Stockton. “They’re really kind of going out of their way to put in hard work to make this dream come true and get some stuff to space.”
Bellardo noted over the last two decades, many alumni have continued pursuing their interest in space, leveraging their education to build careers across diverse aerospace and technology firms. They worked on technologies like Starlink and cell phones using the skills they learned in the lab right here on campus.
As SAL-E heads into orbit and the participating students get to see their hard work and passion come together, the PolySat lab continues to empower students for their future and make a lasting impact on the aerospace sector and beyond.
This story originally appeared in the March printed edition of Mustang News. Check out more stories from the issue here.