Small Satellite, Big Impact

What if we took risks in space exploration? Jaime answers this controversial question via an introduction to cube satellites--miniaturized satellites changing how we think about exploration of the final frontier.

Jaime Sanchez de la Vega is an aerospace engineering student at the Arizona State University. After living in Mexico for 18 years, he joined the Sun Devil community as an international student to pursue his goals of expanding human access to space. Far from being just a student, Jaime has made an impact in the aerospace community. He is currently the president of the Sun Devil Satellite Laboratory, a student organization dedicated to the design and development of spacecraft and related technologies. Through this organization, he has advocated for the understanding and importance of space and its exploration.

As Chief Engineer, Jaime is currently leading the first ASU student-lead satellite mission – the Phoenix CubeSat, a NASA-funded, Earth observing mission that will image urban heat islands across multiple American cities. The mission is composed by an interdisciplinary team of more than 60 student and faculty members across different schools in ASU and ultimately aims to generate knowledge that will allow us to better structure our cities. Jaime is also a researcher, graphic designer, award-winning sculptor, and most importantly, an avid learner.