Cy SAT team member Alexis Locati performs final checks on the cube satellite before it was launched into space. Photos courtesy Matthew Nelson.
In August, about 70 current and former Iowa State students raised their eyes to the sky and smiled when a dream of more than a decade became reality in outer space.
A Falcon 9 rocket launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Aug. 9 with "Cy SAT" in its cargo. Cy SAT is an Iowa State student-designed and built 10- by 10- by 30-centimeter cube satellite that reached the International Space Station (ISS) where astronauts released it into low-Earth orbit -- about 280 miles above Earth -- at 5:45 a.m. on Oct. 8. It will spend the next several months orbiting Earth to collect soil moisture data.
Cy SAT, first conceived in the early 2000s, was constructed and tweaked by a rotating cast of students as part of the Make to Innovate (M:2:I) course and its precursors. The satellite is unique because it was entirely a student project, said Matthew Nelson, M:2:I director and aerospace engineering associate teaching professor.
"On average, we've had about 10 students per semester involved in the project," he said. "Other schools have had cube satellites launched, but they primarily concentrate on only the payload aspect."
M:2:I, where students earn course credit based on their project role, is an aerospace engineering program that engages students in hands-on projects to enhance their understanding of engineering fundamentals. Students build, break and learn from their failures, Nelson said.
A winding road to space
The Cy SAT project began through the Iowa Space Grant Consortium, which is headquartered in Howe Hall but includes the universities of Iowa and Northern Iowa and Drake University as core affiliates. It predates Nelson's arrival on campus in 2006.
A closer look at Cy Sat that was launched into space Aug. 9 and put into orbit on Oct. 8.
Nelson said students "got serious" about building a cube satellite in 2012, and after a few unsuccessful attempts, NASA accepted their proposal in 2018 as part of its CubeSat Student Launch Initiative.
"Our first two applications were denied before we worked with an alum at NASA who helped us develop our scientific purpose for the satellite," Nelson said. "Building a satellite is not a trivial engineering challenge, but it was a great learning experience for the students."
Students took on various roles over the years, including structural design, testing, rebuild and analysis. Six student project managers shepherded the satellite to completion, each learning valuable lessons along the way.
"It was a challenge and it is why in the M:2:I program we have such a strong emphasis on things like documentation," Nelson said. "Despite students' best efforts, there were times when there was some reinventing of the wheel because something wasn't documented properly as they were building and refining."
Nelson said seniors through freshmen worked on the project. A multitude of majors added their expertise, including aerospace, mechanical and electrical engineering as well as computer science, English, biology and meteorology. Through LinkedIn, he connected with former students who worked on the project to alert them to the launch. He said responses were a mix of pride and surprise.
The project was made possible largely with the help of $80,000 in donations through the ISU Foundation to help pay for the satellite. NASA covered launch costs.
On a mission
Cy SAT, on the same orbit as the ISS, should spend four to six months in space before falling out of orbit and burning up. Ideally, Nelson communicates with the satellite through an ultra-high frequency radio in Howe Hall. The hope is to have the satellite point its antenna toward Earth and begin measuring soil moisture when it is above the university.
"It will measure temperature brightness," he said. "If the soil is bright, then it's dry, and if it's dark, it's wet."
Attempts to get the satellite to point its antenna were unsuccessful as of Friday, but Nelson and others will keep trying. Cy SAT typically makes three passes each day through the area.
Future endeavors
Nelson is turning his focus to the next Cy SAT project and hopes to involve other Iowa Space Grant Consortium universities. He is encouraging the students to write a paper for an upcoming conference about the lessons learned along Cy SAT's development.
"It will be a great experience for everyone, and we can take those experiences and make a better next satellite," he said.
Iowa State may not leap to mind when thinking about the space program, but Nelson said he has at least six former students working for NASA and others with SpaceX, Northrup Grumman and other companies.
"It just shows how our students take these experiences with them past graduation," he said. "There are a lot of things we do in space that can impact our state."
