Approximately seven years in the making, engineering students at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s Prescott campus will launch a satellite early Tuesday morning.
EagleSat-1, a small 10-cm cube satellite, is scheduled to lift off aboard a Delta 2 rocket in California around 2:45 a.m.
The satellite will be researching two things. The first is orbital decay on small satellites. The second is the use of supercapacitors instead of batteries.
Deborah Jackson, an aerospace engineering astronautics student and the project manager for the mission, said the real-world experience is exhilarating.
“That’s the great thing about EagleSat is that it really provides you with an opportunity to get hands-on experience with people in the industry. You’re not just reading a textbook in class. You’re applying those things you learn in the classroom so that way when you do go into the field, you’re like ‘oh, I’ve already done this. I know how to do this.’”
The launch of EagleSat-1 will stream live on the Internet.
