NASA University Student Launch Initiative (USLI)
Payload Team Lead – Senior Design Project
Fall 2025 – Spring 2026 | Colorado State University
Overview
Leading an 8-member payload team in CSU's NASA USLI Senior Design Team. The project involves designing a deployable payload system to collect and analyze a soil sample during the April 2026 NASA competition in Huntsville, Alabama.
Responsibilities include overseeing electrical and firmware development, coordinating with mechanical and vehicle teams, and managing project timelines to ensure successful integration and testing ahead of the launch. As the only electrical engineer on the payload team, I'm deeply involved in system design, component selection, and testing to meet mission requirements.
Key Contributions (Ongoing)
Payload Subsystem Design
Designed, built, and tested a subscale payload to collect telemetry during proof-of-concept flight. This launch validates payload landing systems and records deployment/landing data. Responsible for electrical system design, including preliminary schematics for the drill mechanism, power budgets reviewed with industry engineers, and initial hardware testing.
Subscale Payload Firmware
Developed firmware architecture for payload automation, defining communication protocols, GPIO mapping, and control algorithms for autonomous operation.
Vehicle Integration
Collaborating with the vehicle team to ensure payload integration preserves rocket stability and performance for the scheduled fall launch.
Project Management
Creating Gantt charts, coordinating electrical and mechanical, and ensuring project milestones are met. Provided Git training resources to the programmers on the team to standardize workflow.
Impact
Advancing toward a fully functional payload system for flight demonstration at the NASA USLI 2026 competition—highlighting integration of mechanical, electrical, and control subsystems in a rigorous aerospace setting. This work contributes to NASA's mission of fostering student-led innovation in launch vehicle design and advancing technologies relevant to future space exploration.
Skills
Level 1 High Power Rocketry (L1 HPR) Certification
Successfully obtained L1 HPR certification through building and launching my own high-power rocket. This hands-on experience with rocket construction, recovery systems, and launch operations directly informs my work on the USLI payload team.
Payload Team
CSU's payload team for the 2026 NASA USLI competition
Project Photos
Early Development
Original breadboard testing of all sensors included on the final competition payload
Prototype 1: Subscale Electronics Development
Prototype 2: Subscale Testing and Deployment
Subscale electronics, front-facing, that was in the payload body for subscale launches 1 and 2. Collects real-time clock data, altitude data, payload internal temperature, barometric pressure, and stores it to a microSD card. A buzzer is used as an indicator and a tactile button as a toggle.
Subscale 1 rocket being assembled
Payload landing after deployment at the test site in Hartsel. The parachute burnt up when the black powder charges fired, causing parachute failure. However, the deployment of the payload body was successful. The payload orientation system worked nominally and suffered no damages. The microSD card from this first launch was lost at this location but was not recovered.
Altitude drift of the BMP280 sensor over time (5 hour span)
CDR Design: MOLEA System
MOLEA stands for Mechanical Operations for Layered Extraction and Analysis. Design as of Critical Design Review (CDR).
Newest revision of the competition payload. This is the brain of the payload. There are other components in the power block, but the specific circuitry we are using is kept private.
Electrical block diagram for the MOLEA system
Power architecture block diagram, focused on the power rails
Questions About This Project?
Due to the nature of this work, I can't show everything on this website. If you have questions about the technical details, design decisions, or the work that went into this project, feel free to reach out!