UNH Today

When the Falcon 9 rocket blasted off the day after Thanksgiving, it carried with it years of hard work — and the hopes and dreams — of 26 UNH undergraduate students who built a miniature satellite to study the sun and its effects on space weather.

A UNH-led student collaboration with NASA’s Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP) mission, their small satellite launched on a SpaceX rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Nov. 28, 2025 at 10:19 a.m. PST. It now heads to the outer reaches of the atmosphere to study the solar wind, helping scientists in their quest to improve space weather forecasting and better protect technology in space and on Earth — such as communication networks, power grids and GPS — from potentially damaging large solar flare events.

Some current and former students who participated in this mission watched the launch together online. "I'm super excited to see this launch and have all our hard work pay off," says Adri Jackson '23, who helped with the functional testing and simulation of the instrument. 

“This was an amazing opportunity for UNH students to not only get hands-on technical experience but to also collaborate with other undergraduates across the country to design and build an entire space mission — from the instrument itself to the software that will operate it in space, and the antenna and radio to command the satellite once it’s there,” says Noé Lugaz, UNH research professor in physics and astronomy and lead PI on the mission. “The experience is invaluable and can open doors to future opportunities in space-related or other science and engineering careers.”

Selected as part of NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative, a team of 70 undergraduate students from UNH, Sonoma State University and Howard University designed, developed and built the satellite which was named 3UCubed — reflecting the overall concept of uplifting undergraduate students to study the upwelling of ions in the atmosphere, and giving a nod to the three participating universities.

CubeSats are a specific subset of satellites that are small, standardized, and provide a cost-effective way to study space science. They weight eight pounds, approximately the size of a loaf of bread, and offer a simpler and more cost-effective way to build and operate than larger satellites, making them ideal for students to hone their skills outside of the classroom.

Once this CubeSat reaches orbit, it will take measurements of the atmosphere’s density and electron precipitation from space onto the upper atmosphere, which can cause disturbances in communication signals and lead to changes in the ozone.  Data from the mission will be collected by the students and analyzed in combination with data from IMAP.

The 3UCubed satellite was fully assembled at UNH and the two payload instruments that are a part of its structure were built, tested and calibrated at UNH. Twenty-six UNH undergrads worked for five years on the satellite, performing tasks ranging from creating the software code that controls the 3UCubed to soldering the wires during the physical build. With mentorship from professors and staff engineers, the students performed trade studies, orbit analyses, selected vendors for different subsystems, oversaw budgets for various mass, power, link and telemetry jobs and developed the framework for the flight software and operations.

Launching careers in N.H.’s aerospace industry

This type of hands-on experience can directly help prepare students prepare for a successful career in a related field. Alex Chesley ’22, who studied mechanical engineering at UNH, was immediately interested when he heard about the chance to work on the 3UCubed mission while he was an undergraduate.

“At the time, I had a keen interest for the aerospace industry and saw this as a great opportunity to get valuable experience working with industry professionals,” he says. “It was fascinating to learn about so many new subjects about space science and instrumentation that I had never studied before.”

The hands-on experience was meant to introduce, inspire and prepare students for a successful career in a related field like space science, computer science, engineering or science education. Chesley designed the initial CAD model of the satellite and also helped create the detailed specification list for the CubeSat’s altitude control system. He now works as a configuration engineer at STS Aerospace in Laconia, N.H., where he helps develop fluid distribution systems for customers in the space, aeronautics and defense industries.

“The experience with the 3UCubed mission helped with my professional growth, and it was definitely valuable to have, no matter what industry you end up working in,” says Chesley.