Saint Francis University CubeSat Program

          Over the course of six weeks in summer 2026, a team of students completed an array of tasks in support of of the SoFIE CubeSat missio n. They presented their accomplishments at the  Summer Research and Internship Poster Session in the Science Center at Saint Francis University on September 11, 2026. One of the main objectives for the summer was to create a fully functional prototype of the CubeSat called a FlatSat to test the various systems and core program design before flight. The flight software team of  Jonah Layman and Brennen Yingling focused on  combining written code from other technicians to control various hardware devices, such as a Software-Defined Radio (SDR) and X-Ray Sensor.  Critical to the FlatSat test, a power board was needed so that all the different systems could receive power in order to operate. John Julin created the board using KiCad, had it fabricated, and cross-checked the entire board using a mult...

  An Altoona Area School District post on Facebook highlights their work on the a urora imager for the SoFIE spacecraft. Read More: https://www.facebook.com/AltoonaSD/posts/with-all-the-excitement-of-the-artemis-ii-mission-aahs-students-are-entering-int/1601706288621846/  

A Chestnut Ridge School District post on Facebook highlights their work on the x-ray sensor for the SoFIE spacecraft. Read More: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1DvL5DgyjL/        

  By: Dr. Lanika Ruzhitskaya and Dr. Jeff Mendenhall '89 On a quiet hillside in Loretto, something extraordinary is under way – Saint Francis University is building its first spacecraft!   Read More:  https://forever.francis.edu/s/1679/bp23/project.aspx?sid=1679&gid=2&pgid=2067

by   Veronica Crum , Troubadour Social Media Editor The Department of Mathematics, Engineering and Computer Science and the Department of Chemistry have launched a program that provides students the opportunity to craft a small “CubeSat” satellite that will conduct research in space.   Read More: https://troubadour.francis.edu/5222/news/students-faculty-collaborate-on-satellite-project/ 

by Mitch Jubas  The School of STEAM and the Department of Mathematics , Engineering , and Computer Science (MECS) at Saint Francis University are thrilled to announce a significant milestone in developing the university’s first satellite, SFU-1. On December 6th, 2024, the SFU-1 team successfully completed the Mission Definition Review (MDR), marking a critical step forward in this groundbreaking project.  Read More:   https://www.francis.edu/blog/sfu-1-team-rockets-past-key-milestone-satellite-mission