Two student-built CubeSats developed through a Cal Poly Pomona-led university collaboration launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on Oct. 13, bound for the International Space Station as part of NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative. The satellites are part of the Pleiades Five program, which uses an open-source spacecraft platform developed at CPP to give students hands-on experience building and operating satellites while testing communications technology. PROVES-Taygeta, developed by CPP’s Bronco Space Lab and Mt. San Antonio College, carries a camera and radiation-sensing experiment, while PROVES-Maia, built by Texas State University using CPP’s platform, will test amateur radio communications and potentially relay messages between satellites.

This article was originally published on NASA.gov on October 13, 2026.