CubeSat Project

A CubeSat is a class of spacecraft sized in multiples of standardized units called a “U”. A 1-Unit (1U) CubeSat is 10 x 10 x 11 cm in size (about 4 x 4 x 4 inches).

In fall 2024, students in the Carl R. Ice College of Engineering began ideation of potential CubeSat missions. In spring 2025, students selected and formulated a mission called PHAT-Sat, Precision Hyperspectral Agricultural Tracking Satellite.

Precision Hyperspectral Agricultural Tracking Satellite

PHAT-Sat is a 3U (10 x 10 x 33 cm) CubeSat with a mission to enhance agricultural sustainability across the central Midwest by using hyperspectral imaging to detect crop health anomalies with improved spectral resolution and revisit rates. The goal is to deliver frequent and accurate vegetation index data to support precision agriculture, drought monitoring, and resource management in the Midwest.

Industry and academic panelists have reviewed the merit and feasibility of PHAT-Sat to support a NASA CubeSat Launch Initiative (CSLI) proposal submission by students to launch the satellite by 2030.

Neutron Detector: K-State Analysis Tool

In fall 2025, students formulated a pathfinder mission to PHAT-Sat called NuKAT, Neutron Detector: K-State Analysis Tool. NuKAT is a 2U (10 x 10 x 22 cm) CubeSat with a mission to advance space-based neutron detection in Low Earth Orbit and to validate the payload as a space-qualified detector platform. Students developed an initial NuKAT concept and presented a Mission Definition Review (MDR) and a pre-Preliminary Design Review (pPDR) to industry and academic panelists. Students also drafted a model proposal to submit for a future launch solicitation with the goal to achieve launch readiness in 2027.

Furthermore, students performed a competitive assessment, deepened their understanding of the PHAT-Sat mission, and presented their progress in a Mission Definition Review (MDR). Students also presented PHAT-Sat at the K-State Extension and Engagement Annual Conference and at Celebrate Agriculture Day promoting the mission and showcasing their work to date.

In spring 2026, students refined the NuKAT requirements and interface definitions, briefed subsystem updates from the previous semester, and presented a formal Preliminary Design Review (PDR) to industry and academic panelists. Students won a first place award for best innovation display on Fundamentals of Satellite Design at Engineering Open House. Students also attended the Student Space Technology Conference at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville to engage and network with other universities and industry, and presented at the “Putting Ag in JAG-K” event at the K-State Agronomy Farm to provide information about CubeSats and educational value to Kansas high school students. Students visited the Cosmosphere in Hutchinson to learn more about the history of space exploration and to experience the one-of-a-kind exhibits in the state of Kansas.

Students additionally founded a new engineering student organization, Wildcat Space Program, which unites students passionate about space initiatives to promote space-related research and projects at Kansas State University. Students from the Wildcat Space Program were featured in a K-State Today article Classroom to the cosmos.

Please email cubesat@k-state.edu if you are interested in learning more or supporting the project.