Utah State University

Utah State University hosts two major pillars of small-satellite work: the student-run Get Away Special (GAS) team in the Department of Physics, and the Space Dynamics Laboratory (SDL), a University Affiliated Research Center that has built scientific instruments and satellites for NASA, NOAA, and the Department of Defense since 1959. Together they give USU one of the most complete small-satellite ecosystems of any American university, spanning purely student-built missions to professional-grade research satellites.

The GAS team's flagship mission, GASPACS (Get Away Special Passive Attitude Control Satellite), was a 1U CubeSat designed, built, and operated entirely by undergraduates and launched to the International Space Station in late 2021 before deployment in January 2022. GASPACS demonstrated a novel 1-meter inflatable aerodynamic boom for passive attitude stabilization and was the first CubeSat to fly a Raspberry Pi Zero as its primary flight computer, making it a widely cited example of low-cost, student-led spacecraft engineering.

USU also hosts the annual Small Satellite Conference, the premier academic and industry gathering for the smallsat community, reflecting the university's central role in advancing CubeSat and small satellite technology and education nationally.