BOZEMAN -- A Montana-built satellite was delivered to California this week, taking the four-year project closer to a much longer trip as the state's first satellite to go into long-term orbit.

Dave Klumpar, research professor of physics at Montana State University and head of the school's Space Science and Engineering Lab, called the Montana Earth Orbiting Pico Explorer a first in the state's burgeoning aerospace efforts.

"It's a major first for Montana," Klumpar said. "Our primary goal is to bring space hardware development projects to Montana. In particular, we're devoted to involving undergraduate and graduate students at MSU in that process."

Three major satellite projects are currently in development at MSU's space lab. MEROPE, the oldest of the three, began four years ago.

The satellite's payload includes a Geiger tube that measures radiation levels in the Van Allen Belts -- fields of radiation around the Earth. It's also equipped with a collimator -- a device that raises the Geiger tube's saturation threshold should the satellite encounter heavy radiation in the highly charged belts.

After launch-system integration, the satellite will make its way through Moscow. This July, Klumpar said, it will blast into space aboard a decommissioned ballistic missile launched from Kazakhstan.

While details of the launch read like science fiction, MEROPE marks a true milestone for SSEL and the state of Montana. But that doesn't mean finding rides into space is getting any easier, Klumpar said. About half the money invested in any satellite project goes to buying a launch vehicle.

"Neither we nor any of our colleagues have been successful in finding the kind of rides we need in the U.S. for the prices we can afford," Klumpar said. "We're making some inroads, but these Russian launches turn out to be our best opportunity."

Klumpar said the growing interest in cosmic weather has engineers looking for ways to reduce radiation damage to Earth-based technologies and orbiting space vehicles. Even high-flying jetliners can be at risk from charged particles bombarding the atmosphere.

"The charged particles are basically radiation," Klumpar explained. "In some cases, it's not unlike X-rays and gamma rays that are used for dental and cancer treatments."

SSEL also landed a grant from the Office of Scientific Research -- an Air Force program -- to build a satellite capable of studying charged particles near Earth.

The results of that grant, a satellite known as Maia, may help scientists better understand space weather and help protect future space missions.

Unlike MEROPE, a featherweight in the world of satellites, Maia weighs in at 60 pounds and stands 18 inches tall. As many as 60 students have contributed to the project, which has cost roughly $80,000 to develop, primarily in hardware costs.

"If we were any other business, such as an aerospace company, a satellite like this would cost $5 million to $10 million," Klumpar said. "We're able to do it for less because we're not held to the same standards. We don't buy space-qualified parts. What we're trying to do is use commercial, off-the-shelf parts and adapt them to the rigors of space."

Corporate sponsors and donations have helped both MEROPE and Maia move forward. The solar cells on MEROPE were donated from Lockheed Martin, while Sonju Industries of Kalispell donated work.

The company also completed $30,000 worth of milling work on Maia over the past five months. Each new project means more business for the state's growing hi-tech industry, Klumpar said.

"We work with companies here in Montana when we can," Klumpar said. "We put money back into the economy in the state."

Bill Hiscock, professor of theoretical physics at MSU and director of the Montana Space Grant Consortium, sees a bright future in the state's emerging satellite program.

The Space Grant Consortium plays a dual role in Montana, supporting SSEL financially while finding new mission opportunities.

Back in 1991, Hiscock wrote the proposal that earned Montana its spot in NASA's national Space Grant Consortium. Sixteen Montana schools now participate in the consortium, with MSU in the lead.

"I think there's an evolution going on with the number of different projects we're seeing," Hiscock said. "The students are getting training in exactly the kind of things industry wants."

When hi-tech industries hire new employees, Hiscock said, they look for more than a solid knowledge base in a field of specialty. Experience working as a member of a team is big, he said, as is working equally with other specialists.

At SSEL, Hiscock said, that foundation is already in place. Electrical engineers, mechanical engineers, physicists and business students have all contributed to MEROPE's development.

The same cooperation is going into Maia.

"The students understand how to work in a team environment," Hiscock said. "These are really valuable skills. We've had no problem placing these students."

The opportunities don't look to dry up any time soon. Just last month, SSEL won acceptance from NASA for the DEEP Space Test Bed balloon project, slated for initial trial in Texas this summer.

The test, Klumpar said, is a preamble to a major experiment scheduled for Antarctica. Once launched, the balloon and its car-sized payload will climb to 120,000 feet and hover for as long as 40 days to study cosmic rays.

At 22 miles high, 99-percent of the atmosphere is gone. The temperatures drop to minus 20 degrees. It's a harsh environment perfectly suited for the study.

Klumpar said NASA tapped MSU for the Test Bed study, along with Penn State and the University of Alabama. MSU will fly a small cosmic ray experiment on the final flight to study particle radiation.

"What we propose to do is monitor the influence of the payload's mass on the environment around it," Klumpar said. "Charged particles come in from other stars and other galaxies. They travel through space for millions of years. When you're close to the poles, you see more of these particles."

Ten years from now, Hiscock said, Montana will have several satellites in orbit. Chances are good, he said, that a Mars mission with Big Sky representation will be on its way to the Red Planet.

The next Mars rover -- a vehicle the size of a mini van -- is scheduled for departure by 2011. Of the experiments selected for the rover, three involve the Salish Kootenai College in the Flathead Valley.

The second Mars mission will likely include a small student-built satellite. The project will ride piggy back on a larger vehicle before finding its own orbit above Mars.

"That will be a milestone for student projects world-wide," Hiscock said. "No university-level mission has ever gone further than a few hundred miles."

Reporter Martin Kidston can be reached at 447-4086, or at mkidston@helenair.com