Texas State University launched PROVES-Maia, the first satellite it owns and operates to travel to space, on October 13. The satellite launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 as part of NASA's CRS-35 mission to the International Space Station.
Students and researchers in the TXST Space Lab built and tested Maia and will command it once it reaches orbit. The satellite carries MOSAIC, a system developed by the university that lets students test instruments and spacecraft components, along with a university-designed radiation sensor. After reaching the space station, Maia will stay there until it is sent into orbit around the Earth on its own.
Evan Jellison, an assistant professor of instruction in the Department of Physics and coordinator of the TXST Space Lab, said the launch showed what students could do when they worked together. Blagoy Rangelov, an associate professor of physics and principal investigator of the lab, said the launch gives the university its own mission and ground station. The Space Lab was founded in 2023.