The COSMIC Capstone Challenge (C3) is a national student competition organized by NASA and the Consortium for Space Mobility and ISAM Capabilities (COSMIC) to advance the field of in-space servicing, assembly, and manufacturing (ISAM). The program engages student teams in designing conceptual missions and spacecraft capable of addressing real operational needs in orbit or on the lunar surface. In the Track 3 Orbital Servicing challenge, teams focus on developing autonomous servicing platforms that extend the lifespan of client satellites through modular, maintainable solutions targeting key functions such as refueling and component replacement. By encouraging innovation in these areas, C3 supports COSMIC���s broader mission of accelerating the adoption of ISAM as a routine part of future space missions.

The High-Powered Rocketry Club aims to complete construction on two separate vehicles by the end of the competition: a full-scale vehicle to launch at the competition and an aerodynamically similar subscale vehicle aimed at proving the full-scale vehicle design. The subscale vehicle will be launched in early November with a payload mass simulator, as the fabrication of the payload will still be occurring. Construction of the subscale is expected to begin in late September. Construction of the full-scale vehicle is scheduled to begin in early December. This vehicle will incorporate the completed payload system along with design considerations including an apogee target between 4,000 and 6,000 feet, a dual-deployment recovery system, and an L-class motor. The payload is designed to autonomously initiate its soil sampling process using launch and landing detection. A barometer, accelerometer, and magnetometer integrated into the electronics sled will determine both altitude and orientation following flight, confirming touchdown. Upon detecting landing, the collection system will activate: a rotating screw housed within a tube equipped with serrated teeth will break apart hardened soil and funnel material upward. A fixed wall at the top of the screw directs soil into a designated container, within which a probe sensor is pre-positioned. Once covered, the probe will measure nitrate- nitrogen concentration, pH level, and electrical conductivity. Combining these measurements into a single probe minimizes the payload���s form factor, while the dual screw-and-tube mechanism ensures reliable collection across varied soil types.

This year ARC plans to improve the manufacturability and quality of life of Kavik. This involves relocating connection points, redesigning payload modules, and completing new wiring so that the fuselage contents are more organized. These improvements align with the initial goal for Kavik to achieve consistent mission demonstration results by optimizing the design. The club also plans to build spare parts so that the aircraft can be quickly restored to an operating capacity in the event of a crash. Additionally, the club aims to automate tracking of the plane with a wi-fi antenna using computerized prediction methods and motors to move the dish. The antenna is used to communicate between the aircraft and the ground station, as well as downlinking images. It must be pointed at the aircraft at all times to maintain connection, and automating it will remove the need for a human operator, as required by the competition. ARC will also need to make significant changes to the payload release system to account for two different package sizes. One flight mission involves the safe delivery of a 3D-printed cube with an accelerometer attached, so the club will need to develop a method to minimize the forces it experiences on impact. Additionally, the competition includes an object recognition and localization element, which will require upgrades to current imagery systems.

REACHR aims to revolutionize hurricane and flood disaster response by deploying advanced unmanned aerial systems designed to locate, communicate with, and deliver critical supplies to stranded individuals, ensuring that no one is left isolated or without aid in the wake of natural disasters.

The demand for on-orbit computational power far exceeds what is available by current means, necessitating the development of more efficient and reliable electronic systems able to withstand the orbital environment. Traditional electronics used in space applications require expensive radiation shielding and testing to ensure that the space environment does not materially affect the performance of the mission. This need for radiation-hardened (rad-hard) electronics has limited the electronic components available for on-orbit computing [1]. As such, innovation and efficiency are sacrificed for a reliable and known entity, leading to a stagnation in computational power and thermal management [2]. The objective of this research is to design, fabricate, and deploy a CubeSat to test new rad-hard techniques that will allow for the deployment of newer and more efficient electronic equipment into space at a fraction of the current cost and weight. The primary objective of this research is to evaluate and demonstrate new rad-hard techniques on Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) electronics. This will be done via an economical CubeSat platform, which will carry a payload of electronics and subject them to low Earth orbit (LEO) radiation. The CubeSat will have radiation detectors to measure the radiation levels of the payload, and a telemetry system to relay the payload condition back to Earth. The payload includes two Raspberry Pi computers, one protected by the rad-hard technique and another without radiation protection.

The Student Unmanned Aerial Systems (SUAS) competition is an international competition meant to cultivate interest in unmanned aerial systems (UAS) through missions based on real-world applications of UAS technologies. Within the competition, teams are required to design and produce a UAS capable of autonomous flight and execution of a specific series of tasks, as well as report on the system���s capabilities. This year, the competition mission includes in-flight deployment of multiple packages, image recognition, obstacle avoidance, object detection, and mapping. These tasks are meant to simulate the challenges that would be faced by package delivery companies or surveillance and monitoring missions that utilize a UAS. The Aerial Robotics Club at NC State (ARC) is an interdisciplinary student organization whose goal is to design, build, test, and compete with an unmanned aerial system. The club���s primary research and competition aircraft, Kavik 1, is a fixed wing airplane capable of carrying a large payload while remaining light, compact, and maneuverable. Kavik 1 has a 9-foot wingspan, a cruising speed of 40 knots, and a maximum takeoff weight of 45 pounds. Use of an electric brushless motor (T-Motor AT8020) with two 6S 16000 mAh Li-Po batteries results in a flight endurance time of 30 minutes. The fuselage is designed to be modular in nature, allowing ARC to make changes to the payload design after testing subsystems without being forced to rebuild the entire fuselage.

The NC State High-Powered Rocketry Club is competing in the 2024-2025 NASA Student Launch Competition, which uses a point-based system to determine the final score. Points are awarded based on technical writing, website maintenance, community outreach, a functional payload system, and meeting altitude goals. The full-scale rocket���s altitude goal is self-declared and will be measured using two onboard altimeters. Teams lose points based on how far the actual maximum altitude varies from the declared altitude. The full-scale vehicle must also meet specific design criteria, such as including GPS trackers on all tethered parts, having a fully recoverable and reusable airframe, assembly time in under two hours, and launching with a maximum impulse of 5,120 N-s (L-class motor). For a safe recovery, the rocket must employ a dual deployment system with a drogue parachute at apogee and a main parachute during the final descent. A subscale model with similar aerodynamic properties to the full-scale rocket must also be constructed and tested to validate the design and flight performance. Thorough documentation of the planning, design, and manufacturing is required to demonstrate progress. The competition offers the team an opportunity to tackle the design challenges of future Mars missions and beyond, while adhering to the NASA design process now widely used in the aerospace industry.

The Student Unmanned Aerial Systems (SUAS) competition is an international competition meant to cultivate interest in unmanned aerial systems (UAS) through missions based on real-world applications of UAS technologies. Within the competition, teams are required to design and produce a UAS capable of autonomous flight and execution of a specific series of tasks, as well as report on the system���s capabilities. This year, the competition mission includes in-flight deployment of multiple packages, image recognition, obstacle avoidance, and object detection. These tasks are meant to simulate the challenges that would be faced by package delivery companies using a UAS.

According to recent studies, North Carolina is in the top 5 states for hurricane landfall frequency with occurrences about 55 times from 1851 to 2018 [1]. Along with hurricanes, much of the United States is greatly affected by flooding, tsunamis, and other water-related natural disasters. The people stranded in hurricanes and other water emergencies are often in need of basic resources such as food, safety, and shelter. There is an urgent need to identify the location of stranded individuals, provide them with communication, and deliver emergency supplies as quickly as possible. Currently, first responders attempt to find stranded individuals by helicopter or patrolling flooded streets on boats. However, in-person patrolling is inefficient and puts first responders in unnecessary danger. REACHR���s unmanned aerial system (UAS) is a proposal for NASA���s Blue Skies Competition to advance efforts in this field [2]. Focusing on the response phase of hurricane disaster management, the purpose of the proposed system is to assist first responders in finding, communicating with, delivering supplies to, and rescuing stranded persons. The REACHR UAS will incorporate a fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), designed for long endurance and capable of vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) on water or land. The system will also make use of advanced surveillance tools such as LIDAR, FLIR, and NASA���s FINDER. From acquired data, REACHR will use Artificial Intelligence (AI) for surveillance route optimization and data processing to identify stranded individuals. The UAS can then disseminate critical information to first responders using a satellite-based uplink to a web application. Additionally, the UAVs can be equipped with a payload area to carry food, water purifiers, ultralight blankets, or flotation devices. A non-profit organization will be created to facilitate the development, construction, and deployment of the REACHR system. This organization will work closely with the NCSU engineering departments on developing the system and government agencies to make sure it meets regulations. Given that most of the individual technology subsystems have already been developed to a high technology readiness level, development challenges are mostly comprised of subsystem integration. Therefore, the REACHR system is expected to be deployable by 2035, saving more lives at a lower cost than traditional emergency response operations.

The High-Powered Rocketry Club at NC State is competing in the 2023-2024 NASA Student Launch competition. The competition is scored using a point system that incorporates technical writing skills, website upkeep, participation in community outreach, a functional payload system, and altitude goals when determining the final score. The altitude goal for the full-scale rocket is a self-declared altitude, to be recorded using 2 onboard altimeters, and one point is lost for each foot over or under the goal altitude. There are also design requirements for the full-scale vehicle including, but not limited to: GPS trackers on all tethered components, fully recoverable and reusable airframe, assembly time of less than two hours, and a maximum impulse of 5,120 N-s at launch (L-class motor). To ensure a safe recovery, the launch vehicle must have a dual deployment recovery system which includes a drogue parachute to be deployed at apogee and a main parachute to be deployed during the final descent. In addition, the vehicle must contain an in-air deployable payload capable of safely retaining and recovering a group of 4 STEMnauts in a unique predetermined orientation without the use of a parachute or streamer. In addition to the items described above, an aerodynamically similar subscale model of the full-scale vehicle must also be built and launched to confirm the vehicle design and flight qualities. Adequate documentation of the planning, design, and manufacturing processes is required to prove that progress is being made on the challenge. Participating in the NASA Student Launch program will provide the team with the opportunity to investigate the design challenges posed by future missions to Mars and beyond, as well as to follow the NASA design process that is now applied across the aerospace industry.