FRYEBURG — Fryeburg Academy announces that its proposed CubeSat experiment, chosen by the Maine Space Grant Consortium last fall, will launch on the MESAT1 satellite, the first satellite from Maine.

It’s one of 18 small research satellites selected by NASA to carry auxiliary payloads into space between 2021 and 2023. It’s part of NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative that provides opportunities for nanosatellite science and technology payloads built by universities, schools and nonprofit organizations to rideshare on space launches.

“We began this venture last year with the formation of our Space Raiders club and working with CubeSat simulators,” said academy science teacher Warren Ziegler. He and his club will work with Ali Abedi from UMaine Orno to assemble the CubeSat satellite experiment — aptly named, IMAGER — and with Jason Goldstein, who leads the Wells Estuarine Research Reserve in Maine.

“Our contributions thus far for the project are the remote sensing and spacecraft attitude control sequences that allow the CubeSat to be controlled inflight,” Ziegler said. “The goal is to develop a remote sensing tool by modifying a digital camera to image shallow, coastal waters to distinguish water quality properties such as turbidity and phytoplankton concentration.”

The five active team members in the Space Raiders club are Kyle Fairfield, Andrii Obertas, Artem Laptiev, Ava Chadbourne and Nicholas Zakon. Additionally, the academy is working with the University of Southern Maine to build a satellite ground station on campus.

Comments are not available on this story.