College of Charleston Small-Satellite Payload Launches to Space
The final part of a two-part mission sent College of Charleston undergraduate students’ research instruments to space overnight, placing the College’s first-ever contribution to a space-based mission into orbit.
Kevin Gainey, scholar-in-residence at the College of Charleston’s Department of Physics and Astronomy and lead hardware engineer at Pensievision, attended the payload integration on June 11, 2026. Two payloads co-built by CofC and Pensievision were successfully integrated into the CubeSat at the University of Southern California.
The CubeSat carrying College of Charleston students’ payload launched Tuesday, July 7, at 3 a.m.
Read more about part one of the two-part mission: the ultraviolet imaging system payload developed by two CofC undergraduate students, which was launched to the International Space Station (ISS) on April 11, 2026.
This early morning launch on Tuesday completes the second half of the two-part mission. Additional information, including a link to watch the launch coverage, can be found on the SpaceX website: https://www.spacex.com/launches/transporter17.
While the ISS stay accomplished space-based testing of the student-developed UV imaging system, using a compact laser to mimic incoming starlight, the CubeSat mission entails actual using of an identical imaging system to observe nearby star systems for radiation outbursts.
Joe Carson, professor of astrophysics at the College of Charleston who supervised the students’ work, says the goal is to better understand the radiation environments experienced by hypothetical orbiting planets around such stars, including planets that are candidates for hosting life.
The principal investigator institute for the CubeSat mission is University of Chile, while the College of Charleston is the lead for one of the payloads and co-investigator for the other.
