Dream Big Program

Mission

The mission of the Dream Big Program is to inspire, equip and impact the next generation by giving students a pathway to space!  Working with our university partners in the tri-state area, with the goal of expanding nationwide, we intend to expand the opportunity for students to operate space-based programs in orbit!

Starting in the Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio area, NearSpace Education is partnering with various schools and universities to impact students with our new ThinSat mission. This mission is supported by NearSpace Launch, NASA, and Firefly. Over the summer and 2024-2025 school years, students will have the opportunity to design a 0.5U ThinSat CubeSat.  By the end of the year, these will be launched into orbit enabling High School and College aged students to gain hands-on experience with actual space missions.

Spacecraft

The spacecraft ​for the Dream Big program represent a new generation 0.5U ThinSat CubeSat, designed by Near Space Launch.  The new design is intended to increase the amount of available payload capacity over our previous ThinSat offerings, enabling many more students the opportunity to operate space-based programs in orbit!

Phase I

For phase one, we are partnering with 6 tri-state area colleges and universities, with the goal to:

  • Provide exposure to:​
    • advanced manufacturing.​
    • emerging technologies.​
    • space entrepreneurship.

By:

  • Launching 25-30 High Altitude Balloons.
  • Launching 6 spacecraft from the TriState area.
  • Providing resources for our partner schools to interface with local high schools to inspire younger students with the chance to participate in a space program.

Phase II

Phase II will include more university partners statewide and in connected states, with the goal to:

  • Launch 72 High Altitude Balloons
  • Launch 24 Spacecraft​​
  • And impact upwards of 50,000 students

Phase III

Phase III will expand the program nationwide, inspiring and equipping college and high school students across the country.  The national program aims to:

  • Launch 150 High Altitude Balloons
  • Launch 50 spacecraft, one for every state!
  • and impact upwards of 1,000,000 students with the opportunity to fly their experiments in orbit!

Dream Big

NearSpace Education is dedicated to our mission of inspiring, equipping, and impacting students by giving them the tools to succeed. This three stage plan outlines the major milestones we aim to achieve in accomplishing that mission on a larger scale!  Starting in the tri-state area, then the Midwest, and finally across the United States, we hope that we can help inspire, equip, and impact the next generation to dream big on a national scale!

Partners for Phase I:

Universities:

Commercial Spaceflight Partners: 

 

The organizational structure of Dream Big Phase I