Mini satellites, major impact
Emission Reduction

Mini satellites, major impact

This October marks a major milestone for the University of Georgia’s Small Satellite Research Lab — the fifth anniversary of launching UGA’s first satellite into orbit — with the lab’s 10th anniversary fast approaching in 2026. To celebrate, the lab welcomed UGA President Jere W. Morehead; Marisa Pagnattaro, vice president for instruction and senior vice provost for academic planning; and Anna Stenport, dean of the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, for a special visit on Oct. 20 highlighting the lab’s achievements and showcasing its latest missions.

Founded in 2016 by UGA students and faculty, SSRL began with funding from NASA and the U.S. Air Force Research Lab to build a small spacecraft. What started as a classroom project quickly grew into a lab managing federally funded and corporate-sponsored projects, including five CubeSat missions. Currently, SSRL includes over 90 undergraduate members — and the team continues to grow.

Ahmed Guler explains his team’s project to President Jere W. Morehead and SSRL director Deepak Mishra during a tour of the lab. (Photo by Andrew Davis Tucker/UGA)

Since its inception, more than 300 students have been involved in the lab, many of whom have gone on to careers in aerospace and engineering including Caleb Adams, one of the student co-founders of SSRL and now a NASA engineer at Ames Research Center.

The lab maintains active partnerships with NASA, the U.S. Air Force and the nonprofit Let’s Go to Space, Inc. SSRL launched one CubeSat in 2020 and has two more CubeSats in development.

“The Small Satellite Research Lab represents a visionary step forward both in experiential learning and multidisciplinary teamwork that students crave and industry desires,” Stenport said. “That the students and faculty of the lab have succeeded in launching UGA into space encapsulates the scale of the lab’s impact and the capacity of its potential.”

Why CubeSats?

A CubeSat is a miniaturized satellite used for space research that can be a single unit or stacked into larger configurations depending on mission needs. Originally developed as a teaching tool, CubeSats are now widely used by universities, private companies and government agencies. They are compact, affordable, fast to develop and versatile.

“These small but mighty spacecraft have opened the door for hands-on student learning and rapid innovation in space technology,” said Deepak Mishra, Merle C. Prunty, Jr. Professor and director of SSRL. “In the past five years, we’ve expanded our research to include missions in space health, AI and K–12 education. NASA’s Space Biology program has opened exciting new doors for collaboration between SSRL and UGA’s life sciences and biosciences.”

CubeSats became popular with NASA and other partners because of three key elements: lower cost, shorter development cycle and flexibility.

UGA students Gage Kelley, Nathaniel Leblanc and Nick Dagnino work in clean room suits assembling satellite equipment, while Anolita Hirsch and Nektaria Karagiannis work on laptops in the Small Satellite Research Laboratory.
(L-R) Undergraduates Gage Kelley, Nathaniel Leblanc and Nick Dagnino work on installing a camera into the frame of a small satellite inside the clean room as undergraduates Anolita Hirsch and Nektaria Karagiannis work on their laptops in the Small Satellite Research Laboratory. (Photo by Andrew Davis Tucker/UGA)

Missions at a glance

Students and faculty that are part of SSRL work on several missions focused on projects ranging from imaging and mapping to education and outreach.

Launched in October 2020 from Wallops Island, Virginia, the Spectral Ocean Color satellite mission monitored coastal water quality and wetlands using moderate-resolution multispectral imaging. Until communication was lost following a major solar flare in early 2021, the mission provided valuable insights into the health of Georgia’s marshes and estuaries, including barrier islands like Sapelo.

The Multiview Onboard Computational Imager mission, scheduled to launch in 2026, features an onboard camera and GPU with custom algorithms for 3D scene reconstruction. The MOCI satellite will be outfitted to perform computation in space, reducing reliance on ground networks and allowing faster, more accurate mapping — capabilities that are critical for emergency response and field deployment planning.

“My time as chief engineer of the MOCI program in SSRL has been highly fulfilling and career-defining. It has given me a special opportunity to lead a very talented group of undergraduates as we approach mission launch for MOCI,” said Nathaniel LeBlanc, an electrical and electronics engineering major who will graduate in 2026. “It is satisfying for all of us in the SSRL to take the knowledge we learn in class and apply it directly to the development of small satellites.”

Planned for 2026 launch, the LearnSat-1 mission focuses on global education and leadership, offering workshops and mentorships in partnership with top universities in the U.S., U.K., Japan and Australia. Students participate in international forums such as the Youth Global Leadership Forum and the World STEAM Summit.

Also educational-focused, the Mission for Education and Multimedia Engagement Satellite is planned for a 2027 launch and provides K–12 students the chance to submit memes via a web portal and serves as an amateur FM repeater. Nearly all of the MEMESat’s subsystems are built in-house, giving UGA undergraduates hands-on experience in data transmission, image compression, radiation-tolerant data storage, aerospace manufacturing, testing and outreach.