Fremont Unified School District’s Irvington High School (IHS) is celebrating a groundbreaking achievement as its CubeSat program successfully launched its student-designed satellite, Pleiades-Orpheus, into orbit over winter break. The milestone was recognized at a school board meeting last week, where Superintendent Erik Burmeister congratulated the team.
“It’s a one of a kind engineering project,” Burmeister said.
The accomplishment makes Irvington High the ninth high school worldwide to launch a CubeSat into space. The satellite was deployed on Dec. 21, 2024, aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in Santa Barbara County.
The journey began in 2022, when a group of Irvington students, led by now-graduated seniors, collaborated with Stanford University’s Student Space Initiative and Bronco Space at Cal Poly Pomona. Their goal was to design, build and launch a CubeSat capable of monitoring light pollution by capturing images of Earth from space. IHS CubeSat co-president Diya Dalal shared her personal experience with the project, saying it went from “simply an idea” to something she became deeply passionate about.
“At the start, we couldn’t even imagine that someday our project may be able to make it to space,” Dalal said. “But as of 3:30am on December 21, that changed.”
The project involved research on space technology, communications systems and camera boards in its first year. In the second year, the team focused on implementation and testing to ensure the satellite could endure the harsh conditions of space. Building on their knowledge from their engineering classes at IHS with a kit provided by Cal Poly Pomona, the team used their 3D modeling skills to create a prototype.
Once the design was completed, the team secured a launch spot through satellite launching company Exolaunch. Since then, they’ve expressed excitement about the future, which includes an even more ambitious second launch using their own parts, presenting at national aerospace conferences, and increasing accessibility in engineering for underrepresented youth.
IHS CubeSat program member Jerry Sun said the project ultimately reinforced his love for his chosen career field.
“This project has been an invaluable learning experience, giving us an opportunity to transform what we learn in the classroom into preparation for future careers in engineering,” Sun said.
