Student Innovations in SpaceTech: Exploring Hardware & Software Advances

Low feature size and reduced cost in commercially available electronics has enabled the development of low cost, radiation tolerant systems. It is these kinds of systems that have enabled the advent of space technology development at the university level. Now universities can teach and experiment with fault tolerant computing systems in space applications. And concurrently, the software on these new platforms can leverage operating systems, software libraries and software architectures that enable newer and much more capable software systems.

This workshop aims to create a platform where students can showcase their innovative designs for space vehicles, payload systems, flight and attitude control, navigation, rendezvous, proximity operations and in-flight autonomy. With a theme centered on student-designed flight software systems and student designed flight hardware systems, the event will highlight the interplay between software and hardware in advancing space mission capabilities. This workshop aims to foster engagement between academia, industry professionals, and student innovators while providing students with valuable networking and professional development opportunities.

Accepted Presentations

Call for Abstracts

Are you working on an innovative space technology project? Do you have a novel hardware or software system for space applications? We invite students and student teams to showcase their work at the Student Innovations in SpaceTech workshop, where cutting-edge student-led advancements in flight hardware, flight software, and space systems will take center stage. This workshop is an exciting opportunity to present your designs, gain valuable feedback from industry professionals, and connect with fellow students, researchers, and potential mentors.

Why Participate?

• Present Your Work – Deliver a lightning presentation on your innovative space technology project.
• Gain Experience – Participate in workshops led by industry experts, featuring cuttingedge tools and techniques in space systems engineering.
• Expand Your Network – Engage with professionals and peers in the space industry through dedicated networking events. Previous attendees have included, but are not limited to, representatives from NASA, the United States Air Force, the United States Space Force, Boeing, Blue Origin, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the European Space Agency, Sandia National Laboratories, The Aerospace Corporation, Honeywell, Microchip Technology, AMD, Avalanche Technology, and InnoFlight.

Submission Guidelines

Interested students should submit a short abstract (max 500 words) outlining their project, including key technical innovations and contributions.

Abstract Submission Deadline: May 9, 2025

Presentation Submission Deadline: June 27, 2025

The Student Innovations in Space Tech lightning presentations have been incorporated into the Research Paper track. The lightning presentation are in three groups.

First Group (7/29/2025 @ 11:30 - 12:00)

• Next Generation of the Mars Automated Vehicle - Project AV
• Distributed Control of an Evolving Space Structure
• LEAPFROG - Lunar Entry and Approach Platform for Research On Ground
• Demonstration of in-space Autonomous Cooperative Docking: Results and Lessons from the CLINGERS RPOD Experiments inside the ISS

Second Group (7/29/2025 @ 14:30 - 15:00)

• Automated Helmholtz Cage test bed for in-space Magnetic Field Simulation
• STAMPS: Ad-Hoc Sensors for Dynamic Anomaly Response in Space
• Student Developed Amateur Rocketry Flight Computers
• Flight Software Architecture for Student-Built CubeSats Using F Prime and Zephyr RTOS

Third Group (7/30/2025 @ 11:30 - 12:00)

• Automated Stationkeeping for Extremely-Low Lunar Orbits Using Solar Sailing
• Autonomous Docking and Undocking System for CubeSats and Microsatellites
• Improving Retrieval in Lunar Dust Research with Fine-Tuned Large Language Models
• Implementing ILS technology in segmented space telescope detector positioning and performance optimization