Higher Orbits
Michelle Lucas
(281)451-5343
michelle@higherorbits.org
Winning Experiment From Go For Launch! Kuiper 2024 Program Set To Launch To The International Space Station
Higher Orbits Galactic HQ – 22 August 2025 – In the summer of 2024, Go For Launch! Kuiper was held at Amazon HQ2 for students in the community. Go For Launch! is the hands-on flagship program of Higher Orbits, a non-profit that aims to encourage students to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). The program is designed for students of all backgrounds - from the STEM novice to the more experienced - with the hopes of helping ALL students gain the skills and confidence necessary to enter the workforce as the STEMists and Explorers of the future. At this event students work with an Astronaut for the entire event, as well as other space and STEM professionals, and compete to have their science experiment flown to be conducted in space.
Ultimately one team was selected as the winner of the 2024 Go For Launch! Kuiper event, the award… the opportunity to have their experiment launched to the International Space Station. The winning team, Team Aeroloco, is comprised of 4 students: Asher Greene, Shreshta Parthaje, Ryan Sullivan, and Grayson Talbot. Their experiment investigates slime mold in microgravity.
Over the past year the team has worked via virtual connections with Higher Orbits payload integration partner, Space Tango, to further refine the design of their experiment and ready it for spaceflight. Their experiment is scheduled to launch on the SpaceX Cargo Resupply Mission SpaceX-33.
All Aeroloco team members will be in attendance for this incredible opportunity to see their ideas literally take flight to space! Team member Asher Greene shares his excitement about their team being selected as the winners, “I feel astonished! There were so many excellent ideas. It’s a real honor that ours was chosen to go to
space. I can’t wait to watch the launch.”
“I’m very excited for Team Aeroloco to view the launch of their winning Go For Launch! experiment to the International Space Station. I know the experience will inspire them to even greater STEM successes in the future,” said Higher Orbits supporting Astronaut Mike Foreman.
The Higher Orbits Go For Launch! program has been conducted 91 times in 22 states. This particular event was the result of cosmic collaboration with the Amazon Kuiper Government Solutions Team which is a testament to their support of developing our future STEMists and Explorers, the workforce of tomorrow.
"The Kuiper Go For Launch! event was an exciting event for students to learn about what we do at Amazon Project Kuiper, learn about space system design, and compete for a slot to host their payload design on the International Space Station. Now we are excited to see the winning payload fly and produce research results!" shares Mark Davis, Principal, Product Management Kuiper Government Solutions.
The SpaceX-33 launch will bring the total for Go For Launch! students flown to space to 24 with more selected for flight in 2026.
“Space is definitely a team sport so it’s especially exciting to work with galactically great team members like Kuiper and Space Tango to literally launch students’ dreams to space. Cultivating our future workforce, while building their teamwork, leadership, and communication skills is key and I can think of no better way to do it than for teams to work on real science headed to space!” says Founder and CEO of Higher Orbits, Michelle Lucas.
Follow along on Higher Orbits social media for updates about Team Aeroloco at launch as well as blog postings for each of the students. For updated launch information please check SpaceX and NASA feeds for the most update to date information.
About Higher Orbits
Founded in 2015, Higher Orbits is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization creating an experimental learning lab for secondary school students across the United States, focused on the multifaceted worlds of space exploration, research, and spaceflight in order to launch the next generation workforce our world desires. www.higherorbits.org/
About Kuiper
Project Kuiper is Amazon’s low Earth orbit satellite broadband network. Its mission is to deliver fast, reliable internet to customers and communities around the world. https://www.aboutamazon.com/whatwe-do/devices-services/project-kuiper
About Space Tango
Space Tango is an industry leader in automated systems in the pursuit of health and technology manufacturing in space. Since 2017 Space Tango provides facilities to support iterative R&D and manufacturing in microgravity environments. Through an integrated and intuitive approach, Space Tango works alongside its diverse partner base to embrace pathways to production. For more information, visit www.spacetango.com.
