CaSGC Affiliate -- CSU Long beach

California Launch Vehicle Initiative

California State University, Long Beach (CSULB), in partnership with Garvey Spacecraft Corporation (GSC), have established the California Launch Vehicle Initiative (CALVEIN). The engineering education program, in which students develop and flight-test small prototype liquid-propelled rockets, addresses the design and manufacturing of low cost launch vehicles. CALVEIN includes a Systems Integration Experience where students develop/improve vehicle subsystems and integrate them into a vehicle and an Aerospace System Design curriculum in which, from top-level system requirements, students go through the entire product development cycle by employing a systems engineering approach. Since it was established early 2001, CALVEIN has resulted in the development and launch of three vehicles, Prospectors-1 through -3. Outcomes of the program, in terms of student involvement, are many.

The three main goals of the California Launch Vehicle Education Initiative (CALVEIN) are:
    (1) providing engineering students of all levels with hands-on experience on a flight vehicle;   
    (2) providing senior students with design projects which go from requirement definition all the way to the realization and test -in flight- of a manufactured component; and
    (3) provide an avenue for interacting with small payload developers.

These three workforce development-related thrusts allow students who have been involved in the program to have a practical experience of the systems engineering process.

Since its establishment in 2001, CALVEIN has expanded to include a formal Aerospace System Design curriculum which takes the students through the Systems Engineering process in one year, from requirement definition to building and testing flight hardware. For more information about CALVEIN and recent student accomplishments visit http://www.csulb.edu/colleges/coe/ae/rockets/.

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