When submissions closed on October 16, CTE Mission: CubeSat had received 94 mission proposals from schools across the United States. Participating states include Alabama, Arizona, California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Washington, as well as the District of Columbia.

The teams proposed a range of thought-provoking CubeSat projects, such as tracking changes to Earth’s magnetic field, assessing the environmental impact of pandemic lockdowns, and studying space debris.

Meet the review panel

The finalist selection process is now underway. Drawing from expertise in CubeSats, aerospace, career and technical education, workforce development, and STEM education, the review panelists have begun scoring the proposals against the Phase 1 selection criteria. Following their review, the judging panel will select up to five finalists to advance to Phase 2. 

Each finalist will receive an equal share of the $25,000 cash prize pool, as well as satellite development, hardware, and software kits. Challenge sponsors include Arduino, Blue Origin, Chevron, EnduroSat, LEGO Education, Magnitude.io, MIT Media Lab Space Exploration Initiative, and XinaBox.

Thank you to the experts who are contributing their time and knowledge to the CTE Mission: CubeSat review panel:

• Aaron Aboaf, Spacecraft Systems Engineer, Space Dynamics Laboratory
• Aaron Zucherman, Systems Engineering Ph.D. student and Matthew Isakowitz Fellow, Cornell University
• Adam Gardell, Spacecraft Test Engineer, Blue Canyon Technologies
• Ahmad Byagowi, Network Hardware Engineer, Facebook
• Amani Garvin, Dragon Test and Automation Engineer, SpaceX, and Brooke Owens Fellow
• Bailey Roker, Student, University of Colorado Boulder
• Bhavi Jagatia, Graduate student, Georgia Tech
• Brittany Cannady, Digital Media, Advance CTE
• Brodie Wallace, Graduate research assistant, University of Colorado Boulder
• Candice Kaplan, Graduate student, University of Michigan eXploration Lab
• Chloe Long, Ph.D. student, University of Colorado Boulder, and Brooke Owens Fellow
• Christine Anne Royce, Former President, National Science Teachers Association
• Christopher Loghry, Space Systems Engineer, Moog
• Dr. Dawn Lindsley, Nebraska Extension 4-H Career & College Readiness Educator, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
• Elliott Harrod, Systems Engineer, University of Colorado University Nanosat Program
• Gagandeep Thapar, PolySat Mission Lead, California Polytechnic State University
• Glen Kissel, Associate Professor of Engineering, University of Southern Indiana
• Greg Allan, Ph.D. student, MIT
• Jack Cackler, Senior Machine Learning Engineer, Apple
• Jared Giles, Director of Workforce Development Initiatives, Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation
• Jerome Hittle, Project Advisor, University of Colorado Boulder and Western Michigan University
• Joseph Maly, Associate Principal Engineer, Moog 
• Joshua Umansky-Castro, Mission Manager, Cornell Alpha CubeSat Mission
• Justin Hyatt, Senior Research Associate, The University of Arizona
• Kathleen Magrane, President and Executive Director, Innovation Learning Center
• Kevin Dietsche, Professor, University of Wisconsin-Stout
• Kimberly Green, Executive Director, Advance CTE
• Matt Walsh, Generalized Orbit Rendezvous, Cornell University Space Systems Design Studio
• Matthew Zola, Project Manager, University of Colorado University Nanosat Program
• Patrick Biver, New Space Business Development, Moog
• Riley Reid, Ph.D. student, University of Colorado Boulder
• Robert Atkins, National Security Space Support, Moog 
• Sarah Heath, State Director for Career and Technical Education, Colorado
• Supriya Chakrabarti, Ph.D. Director, Lowell Center for Space Science and Technology
• Timothy Nuber, Aerospace/Systems Engineer, Avionics Focus

Stay updated on the national challenge

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