On April 15th, one of SpaceX’s Falcon-9 rockets launched Transporter-7, a mission containing 50+ nano-satellites into space, including Rosey’s very own ROSEYCUBESAT-1.

A CubeSat is a miniature cube-shaped satellite that measures only 10 cm on each side, approximately the size of a Rubik’s cube. The satellite weighs only 1 kg, making them simpler to build than traditional satellites, yet powerful enough for testing and conducting science experiments in space.

One hour and five minutes into launch, ROSEYCUBESAT-1 separated from Transporter-7, and forty-five minutes later, it deployed its antennas and sent a familiar message to the world, “Une école pour la vie.” Currently travelling at 28,000km/hr at an orbital altitude of 500km, our CubeSat will take (low) resolution photos of the Earth and record power intensity data as it moves between direct sunlight and the Earth’s shadow. This data, and its orbital telemetry, will be used by Roséens in their studies for years to come.

The launch of ROSEYCUBESAT-1 is the final part of a year-long educational course on satellite engineering. It is the ultimate STEM project students of this age can do, made possible by the engineers at Orbital Solutions Monaco and ISISPACE. 19 Roséens are now members of a very small group of people who have contributed to sending a fully functioning satellite into space and are the first highschool students to do so in mainland Europe.