UND satellites made by student go to space!

University partners to build satellites to be launched 

UND students are making space history this year. Before New Year’s Day, the International Space Station will receive the first North Dakota-made satellite.

The satellites are known as CubeSats, which are small enough to fit in the palm of a hand. The satellite’s design and operation were proposed by UND’s OpenOrbitor team to Open Space Frontier Technologies.

Sean and Michael Wegerson, co-founders of Open Space Frontier Technologies, with Lead Designer Alex Holland told KARE 11 that they created these CubeSats to bring smaller experiments to the ISS.

The objective of this operation is to send a 3-D printer to enable residents of the space station to create tools that would be too large to transport or for replacement parts needed at a moment’s notice.

Upon arriving to their website, the viewer is welcomed with “Space had never been so affordable or accessible” across the screen.

Saying that their mission is to “provide high-quality, low-cost technological solutions to open the frontier of space for all.”

According to KARE 11, the team was able to make what would normally be a $50,000 Cube Satellite into a much cheaper operation. They utilized in-house manufacturing, using $15 toaster oven pieces to make solar panels, as well as using milling machines as the body for the satellites.

This partnership between UND and Open Space Frontier Technologies can mean big things for not just space-technology for the Midwest, but also how tools and parts are sent to the ISS and other space stations of the future.

Jacob Notermann is a staff writer for The Dakota Student. He can be reached at [email protected]