An Air Force Academy satellite was lost March 24 shortly after launch.

The cadet-built FalconSAT-2 small satellite was the primary payload on the maiden flight of the SpaceX Falcon I rocket, launched from the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Test Site on Kwajalien Atoll in the Marshall Islands.

“We had a successful liftoff and Falcon made it well clear of the launch pad, but unfortunately the vehicle was lost later in the first stage burn,” said Elon Musk, chief executive officer of Space Exploration Technologies Corporation.

Cadets watching a webcast of the launch were initially elated with the launch and then disappointed once learning of the loss of the rocket and satellite.

The satellite is the product of the Academy’s Space Systems Research Center. The center runs a multi-disciplinary, two-semester astronautical engineering course where cadets put theory into practice by designing and constructing a small satellite for Department of Defense research programs.

FalconSAT-2’s mission was to measure space plasma phenomena in the lower ionosphere, which can adversely affect space-based communications, including the Global Positioning System and other civil and military communications.

However, the Air Force Academy’s satellite program continues to press ahead. Work continues Saturday on FalconSAT-3. This latest satellite is also designed, built, tested and managed by cadets, and will carry five separate Department of Defense scientific experiments into orbit in October.

Meanwhile, two development versions of FalconSAT-2 remain at the Academy, and cadets will also begin work on FalconSAT-4 with the fall semester.