Charles Sommer

Research Engineer

csommer@caltech.edu

Charles Sommer joined the Space Structures Lab in April 2018. He is entirely focused on the AAReST project and is responsible for the spacecraft’s system design as well as its integration and test (I&T).

Passionate about space systems, Charles worked for one year at the French Space Agency (CNES) between 2016 and 2017. He participated in the assembly, integration and test of CNES’ first CubeSat: Eye-Sat. His work consisted in strengthening and improving Eye-Sat’s on-board software and testing its behavior with components like S/X-Band radios, reaction wheels, magnetorquers and an electrical power system.

In late 2017, Charles joined the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) for six months, contributing in the design, implementation and tests of the Sphinx C&DH board’s bootloader for Deep Space CubeSats Lunar Flashlight and NEAScout. He also improved the embedded C drivers of this on-board computer, while delivering and maintaining incremental versions of the board and its different software.

Charles holds a Diplôme d’Ingénieur (MsC) in Embedded Systems from ESEO, France. He also graduated from ISAE-SUPAERO (French Institute of Aeronautics and Space) with an Advanced Master in Embedded Systems in December 2017.