UNITED STATES AIR FORCE ACADEMY — A satellite made by Cadets at the U.S. Air Force Academy is now orbiting miles above Earth.
It's called Falcon Sat-X, and it's actually the ninth satellite that has been launched by the Academy. According to the Academy, seniors at the Academy have been working on the project since the fall semester of 2019 as part of the engineering capstone course.
Daily operations of the satellite, as well as two other cadet-built satellites still in orbit, are managed by the Cadet Space Operations Squadron.
“This is a real-world spacecraft program,” said Lt. Col. Dan Showalter, Space Systems Research Center Director. “The cadets perform work similar to young U.S. Space Force officers and engineers in the industry.”
It was launched back on Saturday, November 11th at the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. It's what's known as a micro-satellit, roughly the size of a large Amazon box but it weighs in at right around 400 pounds.
The Air Force Academy says the new satellite will help support technological and scientific experiments.
Click here to learn more about the FalconSat Program.
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