About

Kevin G. Shinpaugh is a Collegiate Professor in the Kevin T. Crofton Department of Aerospace and Ocean Engineering at Virginia Tech. He holds a Ph.D., M.S., and B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from Virginia Tech, earned in 1996, 1989, and 1986 respectively. His research expertise includes High Performance Computing and Space Systems Engineering. Shinpaugh has served in various professional roles, including Director of High Performance Computing at Virginia Tech and Director of Information Technology at the Biocomplexity Institute. He has been actively involved in service to the profession and society, participating in multiple committees related to high performance computing and aerospace engineering. His teaching includes courses such as Spacecraft Design and Spacecraft Propulsion, and he is engaged in research related to space systems engineering.

Research topics

• Computer Science
• Engineering
• Aerospace engineering
• Physics
• Operating system
• Business
• Software engineering
• Aeronautics
• Mechanical engineering
• Systems engineering
• Engineering management
• Electrical engineering

Selected publications

• Project Daedalus: A Spacecraft Concept for In-Orbit Manufacturing, Assembly, and Inspection of Aluminum Structures

  2026-01-08

  articleSenior author

  Project Daedalus is a small satellite technology demonstrator developed to advance autonomous In-space Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing (ISAM) capabilities. The mission targets three critical ISAM capabilities—manufacturing, assembly and inspection—through fully autonomous on-orbit operations. Designed to launch before 2030, Project Daedalus is designed to operate in low Earth orbit using a Blue Canyon Technologies X-Sat Venus Class bus. The payload features a novel aluminum 6061 additive manufacturing system known as Directed Acoustic Energy Deposition, a laser welding system, and an onboard AI-driven Non-Destructive Evaluation system that leverages convolutional neural networks for layer-by-layer defect detection and autonomous fault recovery. These systems demonstrate autonomous fabrication and assembly of aluminum cylinders in orbit. Project Daedalus serves as a scalable and cost-effective pathfinder for future ISAM missions, directly addressing current gaps in on-orbit manufacturing, autonomy, and space infrastructure longevity. This paper provides the decision making and technical information of the conceptual payload design for Project Daedalus.

  PublisherDOI

• Adaptive Device for Assistance and Maintenance (ADAM) - Revolutionary Aerospace Systems Concepts Academic Linkage (RASC-AL) Design Competition Second Place Winning Paper

  2025-07-16

  articleSenior author

  Project ADAM (Adaptive Device for Assistance and Maintenance) is a modular hexapod robotic system engineered for autonomous servicing and maintenance of lunar infrastructure, reducing astronaut EVA needs and enabling long-term lunar operations. Its adaptable architecture supports payload transport, fluid and power transfer, and features optimized dual 6-DOF arms alongside a laser welding module for critical repairs. ADAM’s regolith-conscious locomotion and intelligent control systems ensure reliable performance across diverse terrain and mission scenarios.

  PublisherDOI

• Crewed Venus Program for Interplanetary Discoveries (CVPID): A Space Mission Concept for the Exploration of Venus With Human Enabled Robotics

  2025-01-03

  article

  The Crewed Venus Program for Interplanetary Discoveries (CVPID) is designed to answer critical questions relating to Venus outlined in the National Academies Planetary Science Decadal Survey and demonstrate the enhanced science capabilities provided by a crewed mission. The core of this mission is a 30-day period where a crew in orbit around Venus will monitor, deploy, and guide a robotic aerial vehicle and multiple descent probes. These vehicles, equipped with various scientific instruments, including spectrometers and imagers, will collect and transmit data to the crew in order to understand the current state and history of surface and atmospheric compositions, geological activity, and habitability of Venus.

  PublisherDOI

• 12U In-Space 3D Printer Concept

  2025-01-03 · 2 citations

  articleSenior author

  In-Space manufacturing and assembly have been identified as strategically nationally important technologies needed to build future space structures too large to launch on a single rocket. Additive manufacturing (AM, 3D Printing) is well suited for in-space manufacturing since the process is highly automated, produces little material waste, and allows for a large degree of geometric freedom. Recent advances in AM technology have demonstrated the ability to perform Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) in high vacuum. FFF has also been demonstrated in microgravity via the 3D printer on the International Space Station (ISS). However, there have been no experiments that study the combined effects of vacuum and microgravity on the FFF process, which is a critical step toward developing in-space manufacturing capabilities. This paper presents a concept for a 12U sized in-space 3D printer designed to study the combined effects of microgravity and vacuum, which can be flown as an experiment on the ISS or as a secondary hosted payload on a larger spacecraft mission.

  PublisherDOI

• Project Draupnir: A Space Mission Concept Leveraging ISRU Based Refueling for Extended Exploration of the Asteroid Belt

  2024-07-27

  articleSenior author

  Project Draupnir is an unmanned space mission concept proposed to demonstrate critical technologies to progress the realization of von Neumann probes (autonomous, self-replicating spacecraft). The mission implements novel in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) technologies to enable a sustained Asteroid Belt science mission. The spacecraft targets C-type asteroids within the Main Belt to extract water from hydrated regolith to fuel its hybrid propulsion system. The mission leverages a bimodal nuclear thermal reactor to provide power and high impulsive thrust while using oxygen-based Hall effect thrusters for inter-asteroid transfers. Hydrogen-based gaseous thrusters are utilized for proximity operations. The mission is designed to operate entirely autonomously during its initial lifespan. During its operations, Draupnir performs a comprehensive analysis of asteroid characteristics, focusing specifically on subsurface structure through the use of a reloadable impactor firing mechanism. The system integrates 3D printing techniques to manufacture regolith-polymer impactors. This paper details the basis for this mission, an overview of mission operational concepts, and the analysis that drove design decisions for the spacecraft and its essential functions.

  PublisherDOI

• 1st Place Team 2021-2022 AIAA Undergraduate Space Design Competition: Martian Moons Exploration Excursion Vehicle

  ASCEND 2022 · 2022-10-15

  article

  View Video Presentation: https://doi.org/10.2514/6.2022-4259.vid Project Chariot is a crewed mission to the Martian moons Phobos and Deimos. An Exploration Excursion Vehicle (EEV) was designed to rendezvous with a Deep Space Transport vehicle (DST) carrying two crew members. Once on the EEV, the crew will travel to each moon. The EEV is designed to autonomously collect and store 50kg of regolith from both moons. The EEV must rendezvous back with the DST within 30 days of the EEV’s initial departure from the DST. The main objective of this mission is to determine the origins of Phobos and Deimos through scientific analysis of the collected regolith. The secondary aim of Project Chariot is to examine the effects of deep space on the human body in preparation for the eventual crewed mission to Mars. Project Chariot is projected to cost one billion USD and rendezvous with the Deep Space Transport on January 1, 2040.

  PublisherDOI

• VT ThickSat: Technical Challenges for a Testbed for Lightweight Deployable Space Structures

  2021-03-06

  article

  This paper describes challenges and lessons learned throughout the concept, design, assembling, integrating, and testing for hardware and software of Virginia Tech (VT) ThickSat, a testbed for lightweight deployable space structures designed by engineering students at Virginia Tech. The project started in 2017 as part of the senior design undergraduate team at VT in collaboration with the Virginia Space and Near Space Launch Systems. The project's mission is to prove passive deployment of a spring table boom in low earth orbit, obtain deployment confirmation and transmit a picture back to Earth. To develop this project, over 25 different undergraduate and graduate students participated. In this process, they reached many breaking points and tough technical decisions. Throughout its development, the mission faced significant design reviews. It a maximum allowed 100mA power draw from the bus and a top 150 kiloByte packet size transmission for its entire 28-hour mission. The resulting design can be replicated and easily scalable for much more significant roles under the same requirements. This paper builds the challenges and lessons learned from the redesign, assembling, integrating, and testing of hardware and software. Furthermore, it describes the restrictive design characteristics of the ThinSat program in detail, which led the students to come with smart solutions for its many different design interactions. The ThickSat solution includes a custom low power PCB for an STM32 microcontroller, a servo actuated release mechanism, and a versatile chassis for the ThinSat Program. This study comprises an analytical point of view from the senior monitoring group and other engineers from the Center for Space Science and Engineering Research, known as (Space@VT), summarizing the experience from a student-led ThinSat project. The outcome of this paper is to share an experience that leads to bolster future SmallSat missions at Virginia Tech and other institutions.

  PublisherDOI

• A Prototype Virginia Ground Station Network

  ODU Digital Commons (Old Dominion University) · 2020-01-01

  articleOpen access

  This paper provides a detailed technical description of a prototype ground station network, the Virginia Ground Station Network (VGSN), developed for the Virginia Cubesat Constellation (VCC) mission. Virginia Tech (VT), University of Virginia (UVA), and Old Dominion University (ODU) have each constructed ground stations to communicate with their respective VCC spacecraft. Initially, each university was responsible for commanding its own spacecraft via its own ground station. As the mission progressed, it was decided to network the ground stations and operations centers together to provide backup communications capability for the overall mission. The NASA Wallops Flight Facility (WFF) UHF smallsat ground station was also included in this network. Implementing the VGSN led to the establishment of successful communications with UVA’s Libertas spacecraft via the VT Ground Station (VTGS), demonstrating the utility of collaboration and of the VGSN. This paper provides a technical overview of the VGSN, details concerning signal processing requirements for the mission, a discussion concerning the radio regulatory process as applied to the VCC mission, and plans for future upgrades of the network to continue to support Virginia (and partner institution) small satellite missions.

  PublisherOA PDF

• VT ThickSat: A Passive Deployer Mechanism for a Carbon Fiber Tape Spring in the ThinSat Program

  2020 · 1 citations

  • Business
  • Engineering
  • Physics

  The passive deployer mechanism will fly on Virginia Tech’s ThinSat mission, VT ThickSat, scheduled to launch along with the resupply mission to the ISS, NG-15. This mission is a proof-of-concept that could lead to similar deployable structures in future missions, e.g., solar sails and solar panel deployments. The mission-critical objective is to demonstrate a passive deployment mechanism in space. The boom is required to release itself from the coiled state using only its stored elastic energy. Furthermore, the mechanism takes advantage of a scalable chassis, built for the same mission, restricting it to fit within the space of a 5 x 1T ThinSat form factor. This poster showcases the design progression of the deployer.

  PublisherOA PDF

• VCC Ceres: Challenges and Lessons Learned in an Undergraduate CubeSat Project

  IEEE Aerospace Conference · 2020 · 2 citations

  • Computer Science
  • Aeronautics
  • Engineering

  This paper describes challenges and lessons learned throughout the assembling, integrating, and testing for hardware and software of VCC Ceres, the first Virginia Tech CubeSat built and designed by undergraduates. The project started in 2016 as part of the Virginia CubeSat Constellation (VCC), Virginia Tech (VT), Old Dominion University (ODU), University of Virginia (UVA), and Hampton University in collaboration with the Virginia Space Grant Consortium (VSGC). In July of 2019, the three CubeSats were successfully launched from the International Space Station (ISS). The project's mission is to obtain measurements of properties of the Earth's atmosphere in low earth orbit as well as to collect orbital data throughout their lifespan to develop a drag profile for CubeSats launched from the ISS. To develop the Virginia Tech's spacecraft, VCC Ceres, over 50 different undergraduate students participated. In this process, they reached many breaking points and tough decisions. This paper builds the challenges and lessons learned from assembling, integrating, and testing hardware and software. Furthermore, it describes the initial period of the operations phase, right after deployment, where the students had the opportunity to attempt contact with their satellite. This study comprises of an analytical point of view from the senior monitoring group and other engineers that work at the Center for Space Science and Engineering Research, known as (Space@VT), summarizing the experience from an undergraduate CubeSat project. The outcome of this paper is to share an experience that leads to bolster future CubeSat missions at Virginia Tech and other institutions.

  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Richard O. Claus

  SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

  5 shared

• Jonathan Black

  5 shared

• Paul G. Duncan

  Virginia Tech

  5 shared

• Roger L. Simpson

  University of Alabama at Birmingham

  4 shared

• Bryce Clegg

  4 shared

• Kent A. Murphy

  Pfizer (United States)

  4 shared

• Daniel S. Katz

  4 shared

• Gustavo Gargioni

  Virginia Tech

  4 shared

Awards & honors

• Kevin A. Shinpaugh Collegiate Professor