Ecole Polytechnique – Centre Spatial Etudiant

Ecole Polytechnique – Centre Spatial Etudiant (CSEP) is a student-led organization at Ecole Polytechnique, collaborating with engineers, teacher-researchers, and professionals from space agencies and industry. It coordinates and monitors student space projects, promotes space activities on campus, and organizes responses to calls for projects from space agencies. The CSEP develops student competencies in systems engineering, space engineering, and complex project development in management, innovation, and research. The center is headquartered in Palaiseau, France, at Bâtiment DrahiX, 1er étage, bureau 86-20-49, Route de Saclay, 91120 Palaiseau. The CSEP undertakes various student space projects, often in partnership with French and international laboratories, and private or public companies. Notable projects include IonSat, a 6U CubeSat for demonstrating an ionic thruster and studying iodine deposition effects, developed in collaboration with ThrustMe, VKI, and CNES (Janus 2). Another project is ESD-CubeSat, a 2U CubeSat utilizing the X-CubeSat platform to study ElectroStatic Discharges in collaboration with ONERA and CNES (Janus 2). X-Rocket involves the launch of experimental rockets, including the development of a reusable launcher and a low-cost methane-oxygen engine. The DESTINY project focuses on studying stratospheric infrasound waves from a balloon to characterize and locate infrasound noise, in collaboration with ISAE-Supaero and participating in the ESA BEXUS 28 mission. The CSEP also works on projects related to space debris, such as Dryade Mariner, a space debris hunter developed in response to OpenCosmos's request for attitude control prototypes. The center's projects are designed to affirm Ecole Polytechnique's presence in the academic and global space domain.