HOUGHTON, MI-- A satellite built by Michigan Tech students is now orbiting Earth.
The nanosatellite Oculus-ASR is named for its role as an orbiting eye. It rode the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket into space June 25. The mission of the Oculus is to assist the U.S. Department of Defense in monitoring the plethora of space objects circling the globe more efficiently and accurately.
SpaceX founder Elon Musk says the nighttime launch was the most difficult to date. The Falcon Heavy’s center core failed to land on a drone ship designed to retrieve it.
Tech’s satellite was released at an altitude of 315 kilometers. It was one of 24 delivered into three separate orbits.
Janet Callahan is Dean of the College of Engineering. She said, "Over the past ten years, hundreds of students in the Aerospace Enterprise at Michigan Tech have worked on the Oculus-ASR and are now Michigan Tech alumni from a wide variety of majors. I am extremely proud of the team, as well as the team's advisor, Professor Brad King. He taught them, among many other things, the great value of perseverance."
