Media Advisory: Virginia Tech student-built satellite ready for Northrop Grumman spacecraft launch on Saturday
“This project is providing students at both the undergraduate and graduate levels the unique opportunity to design, develop, test, and monitor their own experimental payload, and see it successfully launched into space,” said Jonathan Black, professor in aerospace and ocean engineering, co-director for the Center for Space Science and Engineering Research (Space@VT), and director of the Aerospace and Ocean Systems Lab at the Hume Center at Virginia Tech.
Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus NG-15 spacecraft is set to launch, Saturday, Feb. 20. Onboard will be a number of student projects, including Virginia Tech's student-built ThickSat satellite. The resupply mission to the International Space Station launches from Wallops Island, Virginia.
What: Media outlets and the general public are invited to join a 60-minute livestream broadcast from the campus in Blacksburg.
When: Saturday, Feb. 20 from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Register here to view the livestream broadcast.
- Meet the team of students and their faculty advisors behind the ThickSat satellite
- Learn how Virginia Tech’s experiment will test a composite boom for the NASA Langley Research Center, and how it will impact future spaceflight missions.
- Hear from student sub-teams including electronics, structures, and the future of the space engineering program at Virginia Tech.
- Watch the launch live from NASA.tv.
- Live Q&A
More background: ThickSat satellite built by Virginia Tech students is headed to space
Northrop Grumman: About the mission
Schedule an interview
To secure a pre-launch interview with Jonathan Black, Virginia Tech professor in aerospace and ocean engineering or his students, contact Bill Foy by email, or by phone at 540-998-0288.
Northrop Grumman Media Contact: Kristi Davidson / 480-276-8464 / kristi.davidson@ngc.com;