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Puerto Rican Students Building Island's First Satellite, With Help From UCF

Alexander Matta (L), Professor Amílcar Rincón (C) and Gabriel Cascante (R) with a prototype of their CubeSat. Photo: Brendan Byrne / WMFE

CubeSats are tiny satellites about the size of a tissue box. Their small size and relatively inexpensive price tag makes them great tools for universities to conduct experiments in space. Students and faculty at UCF have been working on CubeSats for some time. They’re now working with the Interamerican University in Puerto Rico to help aerospace engineering students launch the island’s first satellite.

90.7’s space reporter Brendan Byrne met up with students Gabriel Cascante and Alexander Matta as they worked with faculty and students at UCF’s Florida Space Institute on their first satellite.

Education reporting on WMFE is supported by Helios Education Foundation

Brendan Byrne is Central Florida Public Media's Assistant News Director, managing the day-to-day operations of the newsroom, editing daily news stories, and managing the organization's internship program. Byrne also hosts Central Florida Public Media's weekly radio show and podcast "Are We There Yet?" which explores human space exploration, and the weekly news roundup podcast "The Wrap."