About BLUE

Biannual Launches for Undergraduate Education (BLUE) is a student-led program that develops space payloads and CubeSats. The goal of the program is to increase undergraduate experience with space system development. BLUE is funded by the Aerospace Engineering Department and overseen by Professor Mirko Gamba.

BLUE currently has three projects underway. Two of these projects are 2U space research payloads set to launch in 2021 aboard Blue Origin’s New Shepard vehicle. The third project is a 1U CubeSat being launched on MASA’s TSM in 2021.

BX-3

BLUE is currently looking to increase personnel on the BX-3 project, which is one of the 2U space payloads. This project is examining the structural advantages of curing composites in space. BX-3 is being sent into space aboard New Shepard. The payload will then cure composite samples using ultraviolet light and subsequently return to Earth. Upon recovery, the samples will be analyzed against identical samples that were cured on the ground. This project is expected to be completed by March 2021 and will be launched in Q2 of 2021.

Contact

Students interested in learning more about BX-3 can contact Chief Engineer Andrew Lauterbach at lauterba@umich.edu
General questions regarding the BLUE program can be directed to Owen Marr at owenmarr@umich.edu