PongSat

PongSat is an educational outreach program developed and run by the aerospace engineering company, JP Aerospace. The name is a portmanteau of "Ping-Pong ball" and "Satellite." The program's primary goal is to provide students with a low-cost, hands-on opportunity to design and build a small scientific payload that is then flown to the edge of space.

The core concept involves providing participants with a volume roughly equivalent to that inside a standard ping pong ball (approximately 33 cubic centimeters). Students are tasked with creating an experiment that fits within this space and can withstand the harsh conditions of high altitude, including extreme cold, low pressure, and intense radiation.

JP Aerospace integrates these individual student experiments into a larger payload that is carried aloft by a high-altitude balloon. During the flight, data from the PongSats (such as temperature, pressure, and location) is typically collected. After the flight, the payload is recovered, and the individual PongSats are returned to the students for analysis.

The program aims to promote STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) education by engaging students in a real-world aerospace project. It encourages creativity, problem-solving, and teamwork.