Hampton University, the historically Black educational institution in Virginia, is partnering with three other universities in Virginia that will develop and fly a group of small satellites as part of the Undergraduate Student Instrument Program of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
The consortium will develop three nanosatellites that will weigh about three pounds and will measure four inches square. When launched the satellites will analyze the Earth’s atmosphere.
Undergraduate students at Hampton will be focus their efforts on satellite orbit prediction software, to determine possible atmospheric density affects that could alter the three cubesats formation in orbit.
Other universities participating in the Virginia Cubesat Constellation mission are Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia Tech, and the University of Virginia.