UC Irvine Giving Day

Who We Are

We are UC Irvine CanSat, a vibrant and enthusiastic student engineering team. Our team is composed of a diverse blend of passionate students unified under one mission: to excel in the International CanSat competition. This annual student design-build-launch event, spearheaded by the American Astronautical Society (AAS), provides an opportunity for us to experience the entire development cycle of a small satellite – from conceptual design through integration and testing, to real-world operation and post-mission summary. Last year, we placed 9th in the World and 3rd in the United States out of over 100 participating teams. And the previous year we placed 4th in the World and 2nd in the United States! 

Progress Report

Since our fall 2025 ZotFunder campaign closed, UC Irvine CanSat has moved from early design into active prototyping and subsystem validation. Our avionics team has completed initial sensor integration and began validating 1 Hz telemetry transmission. Our custom PCB has fully assembled and is currently undergoing testing and debugging, while our mechanical team continues structural validation and deployment testing. As we prepare for Preliminary Design Review (PDR) and full system integration, our focus is now on final testing and competition readiness.

With the generous support from our fall campaign, we have been able to secure lodging and ground transportation for the International CanSat Competition. However, we still need assistance covering airfare for our 10 team members. Plane tickets are approximately $300 per student, so $3,000 is needed to take our team to competition. Our current fundraising effort is specifically aimed at covering these flight costs so that our full team can attend, compete, and represent UC Irvine. Every dollar raised directly reduces the financial burden on our student engineers and helps ensure that no team member is left behind.

Your Support So Far

Thanks to the $1,625 raised from 13 generous donors during our fall 2025 ZotFunder campaign, we have been able to directly support both system development and competition logistics. 

Funds have been allocated as follows:

~$100: Sensors and electronics to support avionics development and our fully portable ground station

~$50: Manufacturing and iteration of a custom printed circuit board (PCB) designed by our team

~$100: Intern-led subsystem projects, enabling students to purchase components for telemetry testing, avionics validation and system verification

Remaining funds: Offset lodging and ground transportation for team members attending the International CanSat Competition. 

Your support has already made measurable progress possible! Our remaining need is airfare, approximately $3,000 total for our 10 engineers. We hope you will consider contributing to our project this Giving Day and help get our team to competition. Thank you!