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A Summary So Far...

Since January of this year, the Kato Launch Squad team has worked on the SLED, logos, data analysis, coding, and reaching out to the community to share the exciting opportunity that the team has been given. After many hours were spent on drafting concepts for the SLED, a final design was chosen and put together by late February.

 The coding process was also a difficult task, as the coding determined when and how the SLED would autonomously launch. However, we were able to quickly recover after focused brainstorming and problem-solving brought us to a solution. The team also persevered through any trials that crossed our paths, such as modifying the SLED’s satellite release system, which has been nicknamed the Cradle Stopping Mechanism (CSM).

 On February 28th, a conference call was held between the Kato Launch Squad team and a select NASA mentor to confirm design choices and finalize the presentation for the following day. On March 1st, Kato Launch Squad presented our entire plan and SLED to NASA representatives in another conference call, and it has been confirmed that the SLED has been received in Houston, Texas.

 The Kato Launch Squad team is grateful for the opportunity that NASA has given us and wishes best of luck to the other chosen teams nationwide!

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