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GHOST

GHOST (Grand cHallenge MesOsphere Student rockeT) is a student rocket launch in partnership with NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility (United States), Andøya Space (Norway), the RockSat-X program, and the Grand Challenge Initiative (GCI) II. 

An animation of the path of several sounding rockets, launched to the edge of Earth's atmosphere to study Earth's magnetosphere. The curved edge of Earth's sphere covers the bottom half of the image, while white arcs appear on the screen, demonstrating the rockets' flight paths.

Application delayed until March 2024.

GHOST (Grand cHallenge MesOsphere Student rockeT) is a student rocket launch in partnership with NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility (USA), Andøya Space (Norway), the RockSat-X program, and the Grand Challenge Initiative (GCI) II.  GCI II is a large-scale international collaboration targeting advancement in our understanding of M/LT (mesosphere / lower thermosphere).  GGI II currently consists of eight nations organized around launching sounding rockets, measurements using aircrafts, satellites, balloon borne and ground-based instruments from various locations around the globe. The GHOST mission will launch out of Andøya Space in Norway in November 2024.

RockSat-X is a program for students to design, build, and fly a sounding rocket experiment on a Terrier-Improved Malemute sounding rocket. Each experiment is integrated onto an aluminum deck that will be fully exposed to the space environment at apogee (150-170km).  Each experiment is provided with a power and telemetry interface.

An Intent to Fly (IFF) must be submitted to express interest in participating in the GHOST program. This is a competitive program and space on the rocket is limited. Depending on the available space, the most well-prepared and organized teams will be selected for flight in September 2023.

The GHOST User Guide describes the design constraints and interfaces.  Please read the User Guide with your team before submitting an Intent to Fly Form. Both documents are linked below. Completed Intent to Fly Forms must be submitted via e-mail to: rocksatprogram@gmail.com.

GHOST engages students in a thorough design process, documented by design reviews (CoDR, PDR, CDR) in the fall and testing and integration reviews (STR, ISTR, FMSR, VVC) in the spring. All manifested experiments must be delivered for testing and integration in July 2024. Integration and testing will be at Wallops Flight Facility August 2024 and launch will occur at Andøya Space in November 2024. While faculty advising or industry partnership is encouraged for both programs, the work shall be done by the student participants. 

Questions regarding program details and IFF submission can be directed to: 

rocksatprogram@gmail.com