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SUPPORT THE SPACE COWBOYS!
Supporting the OSU Space Cowboys means you're playing a crucial role in shaping Oklahoma State's part in the future of space exploration and engineering. Your donation helps us participate in national competitions, conduct research, and work on ambitious projects like building Oklahoma's first student-developed satellite and launching a rocket to make Oklahoma State one of the few universities to reach space! By supporting us, you will be directly investing in the next generation of scientists and engineers and helping bring America's Brightest Orange to the stars!
WHO ARE THE SPACE COWBOYS?
Founded in 2009 as a student team in NASA’s Microgravity University program, we are a group of passionate students united in our goal to advancing interest in space exploration and aerospace engineering through participation in research, competitions, and engineering projects.
The OSU Space Cowboys consist of four member organizations; Cowboy Rocketworks, OSU NASA Micro-g NExT, OSU High Altitude Ballooning, and the Oklahoma Cubesat Initiative.
Cowboy Rocketworks
Established in 2016, Cowboy Rocketworks is Oklahoma State University's High Powered Rocketry team, participating in rocketry research and competitions. Cowboy Rocketworks competes in the annual Argonia Cup and Spaceport America Cup rocketry competitions, and has the long-term goal of launching a vehicle to 100 kilometers, making Oklahoma State one of the few universities to reach space. In support of these activities, Cowboy Rocketworks has teams developing composite manufacturing processes, solid rocket motor production, rocketry avionics, and capability to carry university scientific payloads.
OSU NASA Micro-g NExT
Micro-G NExT is an annual competition hosted by NASA which sees university teams submitting proposals to design and test solutions to outstanding engineering challenges for NASA missions to the Moon and beyond. The Space Cowboys have participated in NASA's Micro-G challenge since 2015, having had many teams selected for project testing at NASA's Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory in Houston, Texas.
OSU High Altitude Ballooning
Oklahoma State's High Altitude Balloon teams conduct research using balloons as instrumentation platforms for an array of scientific endeavors. Current areas of focus include gather data to help build atmospheric models through participation in NASA's Nationwide Eclipse Ballooning Project, as well as Infrasound Earthquake Detection in collaboration with the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and hypersonic shockwave characterization.
Oklahoma CubeSat Initiative
The Oklahoma CubeSat Initiative is a research program hosted by Oklahoma State University in collaboration with the University of Tulsa and University of Oklahoma to design, build, and launch the first student developed satellite from Oklahoma as part of NASA's CubeSat Student Launch Initiative. OKSat is currently developing a vehicle to demonstrate optical communication techonologies from ground to Low Earth orbit.
$15 is the approximate cost of a Solar Balloon and its accompanying payload. Solar Balloons are made of a thin plastic film coated in charcoal power and use solar radiation to heat the air inside and achieve lift. These Balloons are launched by Oklahoma State students in collaboration with the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, demonstrating the capability of the Solar Balloon concept for use in future missions to Venus.
A donation of $25 covers the cost of an average roll of PLA or PETG filament for a 3D printer. 3D printing allows for the Space Cowboys' teams to rapidly prototype and iterate on new designs for research or competitions.
$50 is around the average cost of an H impulse solid rocket motor, which is what Cowboy Rocketworks uses on launches to certify its new members.
With $150 Cowboy Rocketworks, is able to cover the cost for all the materials for a Level 1 High Power rocket. This milestone signifies the start of many rocketeers personal journey into the field, and Rocketworks helps subsidize the cost of these rockets in order to lower the barrier of entry to rocketry.
$300 is the average cost of a rocket flight computer used by Cowboy Rocketworks. Their competition rockets can have upwards of four flight computers on-board for safety and redundancy!
$5000 is the cost of an Aluminum 3U CubeSat frame (Measuring 10cm x 10 cm x 30cm). The Oklahoma CubeSat Initiative is developing a 3U sized CubeSat as part of their NASA CubeSat Student Launch Initiative proposal.
$10,000 is the cost of the O6000, a 150mm rocket motor weighing 70 lbs. The O6000 is the most powerful rocket motor currently available for civilian purchase. Cowboy Rocketworks is looking to fly an O6000 as part of their SpaceShot test campaign.