Latest CubeSat Stories
NASA is seeking proposals for flight demonstrations of small satellite technologies with the goal of increasing the technical capabilities and range of uses for this emerging category of spacecraft. Small satellites typically weigh less than 400 pounds (180 kg) and are generally launched as secondary payloads on rockets carrying larger spacecraft. The small satellite category includes softball-sized "CubeSats," which are standardized, small, cube-shaped spacecraft that can carry small...
WASHINGTON, Feb. 2, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA is seeking proposals for flight demonstrations of small satellite technologies with the goal of increasing the technical capabilities and range of uses for this emerging category of spacecraft. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO) Small satellites typically weigh less than 400 pounds (180 kg) and are generally launched as secondary payloads on rockets carrying larger spacecraft. The small satellite...
Final checkout of Europe’s new Vega launcher was completed last Friday, marking another milestone towards its maiden flight from Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. The first Vega launch campaign began in November with the installation of the P80 first stage on the launch pad. The two solid-propellant second and third stages were added to the vehicle, followed by the AVUM – Attitude & Vernier Upper Module – liquid-propellant fourth stage. All four stages have...
The integration of Vega’s first, second and third stages is now complete at Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. The new rocket is moving full speed ahead towards its maiden flight at the end of January. The first Vega launch campaign began in November with the installation and testing inside the mobile gantry of the hundred-ton solid-propellant first stage, the P80, and the Interstage-1/2 structure that links the first two stages. The booster’s final acceptance included testing...
After spending more than 240 days "sailing" around the Earth, NASA's NanoSail-D -- a nanosatellite that deployed NASA's first-ever solar sail in low-Earth orbit -- has successfully completed its Earth orbiting mission. Launched to space Nov. 19, 2010 as a payload on NASA's FASTSAT, a small satellite, NanoSail-D's sail deployed on Jan. 20. The flight phase of the mission successfully demonstrated a deorbit capability that could potentially be used to bring down decommissioned satellites...
The documentary, "Emerging Science: Out Of This World," will explore the construction of a miniature cube satellite that is being built by a partnership of professors and students from Norwich University, University of Vermont, St. Michael's College, and Vermont Technical College. Northfield, Vt. (PRWEB) October 28, 2011 Research conducted at Norwich University by students and faculty members will be featured in a Vermont Public Television documentary airing Wednesday, Oct....
WASHINGTON, Oct. 28, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA's newest Earth-observing satellite soared into space early today aboard a Delta II rocket after liftoff at 5:48 a.m. EDT from Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO) NASA's National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System Preparatory Project, or NPP, successfully separated from the Delta II 58 minutes after launch, and the first...
When opportunity knocked, NASA heliophysicist Doug Rowland answered. He and his team recently secured another flight opportunity for a pint-sized instrument studying lightning in Earth's upper atmosphere and now are bracing for a veritable "fire hose" of data about a little-understood phenomenon first discovered by scientists nearly two decades ago. The instrument, Firestation, is one of four experiments manifested to fly on an experiment pallet the U.S. Department of Defense plans to...
WASHINGTON, Oct. 12, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA is planning an Oct. 27 launch of the first Earth-observing satellite to measure both global climate changes and key weather variables. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO) The National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System Preparatory Project (NPP) is the first mission designed to collect critical data to improve weather forecasts in the short-term and increase our understanding of...
NASA is seeking proposals for small satellite payloads to fly on rockets planned to launch between 2012 and 2014. These miniature spacecraft, known as CubeSats, could be auxiliary payload on previously planned missions.CubeSats are a class of research spacecraft called nanosatellites. The cube-shaped satellites are approximately four inches long, have a volume of about one quart and weigh less than three pounds.Proposed CubeSat investigations must be consistent with NASA's Strategic Plan and...
