Air Force Research Labs (AFRL), NASA

The University Nanosatellite Program (UNP) funds U.S. university students and programs to design, build, launch, and operate small satellites. UNP is funded by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) and managed from the Air Force Research Laboratory’s (AFRL) Space Vehicles Directorate (RV) located on Kirtland Air Force Base, NM. In 2023, the Mission Concept (MC) program was added to UNP through a partnership with NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative (CSLI) and Exploration Research & Technology (ER&T). All three organizations found universities applying to our programs for the first time often had non-competitive applications and concepts. The MC program was created to help these new universities access mentoring and guidance in scoping a relevant mission. UNP expects that as these participants learn and grow, the pool of more mature applicants will also expand.