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 interferometry, which involves multiple satellites working in precise coordination to analyze starlight. The U-M team will deploy two CubeSats, each approximately the size of a briefcase, to demonstrate the necessary precision in formation flying and light transmission. Success in this endeavor could pave the way for more extensive missions to assess the habitability of exoplanets. Our collaborators include Stanford University, Georgia Tech, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and JPL.
Additional new releases: UM News, GA Tech News.
