Welcome to MXL!
We are a group of students, staff, and faculty working with collaborators to enable exploration (of space in particular) with new and interesting missions. Explore this site to find out more our about education, research, and missions.
Mission and Systems
MXL applies our research and development to develop novel missions and capabilities.
Recent Posts…
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STARI – a new mission to enable planet finding
MXL is excited to collaborate with Professor John Monnier, from the University of Michigan’s Department of Astronomy, who has secured a $10 million NASA grant to lead Astronomy’s inaugural satellite mission, STARI (STarlight Acquisition and Reflection toward Interferometry), scheduled for launch in 2029. This mission aims to validate a novel technique for studying exoplanets through…
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Here comes the sun!
MXL is headed to Indiana to view the total solar eclipse on Monday, 08 April 2024. More details are found here: https://nebp.mxl.space/. May we all have clear skies!! […]Read More…
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MARIO launched, deployed, and operational!
On Thursday, 29 December 2022, MXL’s latest cubesat, MARIO, was deployed from the International Space Station (ISS) by Nanoracks and NASA. MARIO, also known as the Measurement of Actuator Response and Impedance on Orbit cubesat, is a 3U CubeSat collaboration between MXL, Extreme Diagnostics, Michigan’s Active Intelligent and Multifunctional Structure (AIMS) Lab, and NASA. The…
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TBEx Launched, Deployed, and Operational
by Andrew Stephenson and MXL. The two TBEx satellites launched in June 2019 will give scientists detailed insight into the effects of plasma bubbles in the upper atmosphere and how this space weather impacts space communication. On June 25, 2019, two CubeSats developed by the Michigan Exploration Laboratory (MXL) were deployed in low Earth orbit…
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TBEx Launch: T-minus 4 Days
MXL’s first pair of coordinated satellites are scheduled to launch in 4 days. This will be the first part of a constellation that we hope grows with additional nodes for space weather monitoring and technology demonstrations. The Enhanced Tandem Beacon Explorers (E-TBEx) will map the Earth’s upper atmosphere to characterize how plasma bubbles develop in both…
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LITE #2 Night Launch!
On April 15, 2019, MXL’s Project Strato launched its second iteration of the LED Initial Testing Experiment (LITE), a technology demonstration mission that aims to improve optical trackability of small satellites by equipping them with LEDs that can be seen from telescopes on the ground. A successful LITE mission shall gather dynamics and telemetry data…
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