LEVEL 1 · TROPOSPHERE · FOLLOW
Prepare the first flight vehicle
Turn the plain bottle into a stable vehicle and create a nosecone that can separate near apogee.
Satellite Services
Build the flight and recovery systems that keep payloads stable, useful and recoverable throughout the mission.
Role in the agency
Satellite Services own the parts of the flight vehicle that stabilise, carry and recover the payload. Their progression moves from making the first bottle flight-ready to selecting and predicting recovery or extended-flight systems for a mission brief.
One agency journey
All five teams work towards the same agency mission at each atmospheric level. The challenge changes from following a supplied method to creating missions from real requirements.
Level 1 · TroposphereFOLLOW
FIRST LAUNCH
Prepare and conduct the agency's first safe, measured water-rocket launch.
Level 2 · StratosphereCONTRIBUTE
IMPROVE THE LAUNCH
Build on the first launch and demonstrate evidence-based improvements.
Level 3 · MesosphereINVESTIGATE
TEST PILOT
Build and fly a more complex test vehicle and investigate performance, recovery and capability gaps.
Level 4 · ThermosphereCOORDINATE
WEATHER MISSION
Plan, resource and conduct a real environmental mission using interacting systems.
Level 5 · ExosphereCREATE
MISSION ON DEMAND
Translate an external requirement into a safe, reliable and repeatable mission with minimal teacher direction.
Satellite Services — from Follow to Create
The team mission changes at each level, but always contributes to the same shared agency objective.
LEVEL 2 · STRATOSPHERE · CONTRIBUTE
Recover the instrumented payload safely
Adapt the nosecone to carry the sensor package and build a parachute recovery system.
LEVEL 3 · MESOSPHERE · INVESTIGATE
Find the best recovery system for the Test Pilot
Compare parachute and streamer systems using controlled evidence.
LEVEL 4 · THERMOSPHERE · COORDINATE
Keep the weather satellite aloft and recover it
Investigate box-kite and autorotation systems for carrying and recovering the instrument package.
LEVEL 5 · EXOSPHERE · CREATE
Predict and extend flight/recovery performance
Use accumulated evidence to choose or design a system that meets a mission requirement.
Why the progression matters
Students earn capabilities. Teams earn independence. Early missions are deliberately scaffolded. As the team proves that it can plan, investigate, coordinate and make sound decisions, the scaffolding falls away.
At Exosphere the goal is not a harder worksheet. It is a team capable of taking a genuine mission requirement and working out what to do.