Tag: CubeSat Launch Initiative

NASA Seeks Student Missions to Send to Space in 2026, Beyond

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Technicians with the University of Kansas prepare their KUbeSat-1 for integration at Firefly’s Payload Processing Facility at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California on Thursday, April 25, 2024. Credit: NASA NASA announced a new round of opportunities for CubeSat, developers to build spacecrafts on that will fly on upcoming launches through the agency’s CSLI (CubeSat Launch Initiative). CubeSats are a class of small spacecraft called nanosatellites. The initiative provides space access to U.S. educational institutions, certain non-profit organizations, and informal educational institutions such as museums and science centers, as well as NASA centers focused on workforce development,…

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NASA Science, Cargo Launch on 21st Northrop Grumman Mission to Station

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Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft for the company’s 21st commercial resupply services mission for NASA launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Credit: NASA Following a successful launch of NASA’s Northrop Grumman 21st commercial resupply mission, new scientific experiments and cargo for the agency are bound for the International Space Station. Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft, carrying more than 8,200 pounds of supplies to the orbiting laboratory, lifted off at 11:02 a.m. EDT Sunday on a SpaceX Falcon 9…

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NASA Sets Coverage for Northrop Grumman’s 21st Station Resupply Launch

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Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft in the grips of the Canadarm2 robotic arm shortly after being captured at the International Space Station. Credit: NASA Editor’s Note: This media advisory was updated July 31, 2024, to reflect that the launch now is at 11:29 a.m. EDT on Saturday, Aug. 3. NASA, Northrop Grumman, and SpaceX are targeting 11:29 a.m. EDT on Saturday, Aug. 3, for the next launch to deliver science investigations, supplies, and equipment to the International Space Station. This launch is the 21st Northrop Grumman commercial resupply services mission to…

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NASA Mission to Study Mysteries in the Origin of Solar Radio Waves

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3 min read NASA Mission to Study Mysteries in the Origin of Solar Radio Waves NASA’s CubeSat Radio Interferometry Experiment, or CURIE, is scheduled to launch July 9, 2024, to investigate the unresolved origins of radio waves coming from the Sun. CURIE will investigate where solar radio waves originate in coronal mass ejections, like this one seen in 304- and 171-angstrom wavelengths by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory. NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientists first noticed these radio waves decades ago, and over the years they’ve determined the radio waves come from…

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Eight CubeSats Lift Off for NASA on Firefly Aerospace Rocket!

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Firefly Aerospace’s Alpha rocket leaves a glowing trail above the skies of Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on July 3, 2024. Photo credit: Firefly Aerospace/Trevor Mahlmann As part of NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative, Firefly Aerospace launched eight small satellites on July 3 aboard the company’s Alpha rocket. Named “Noise of Summer,” the rocket successfully lifted off from Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California at 9:04 p.m. PDT. The CubeSat missions were designed by universities and NASA centers and cover science that includes climate studies,…

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NASA’s ELaNa 43 Prepares for Firefly Aerospace Launch

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A Satellite for Optimal Control and Imaging (SOC-i) CubeSat awaits integration at Firefly’s Payload Processing Facility at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California on Thursday, June 6, 2024. SOC-i, along with several other CubeSats, will launch to space on an Alpha rocket during NASA’s Educational Launch of Nanosatellites (ELaNa) 43 mission as part of the agency’s CubeSat Launch Initiative and Firefly’s Venture-Class Launch Services Demonstration 2 contract. NASA NASA is readying for the launch of several small satellites to space, built with the help of students, educators, and researchers from across…

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NASA, Partners Select Universities for CubeSat Summer Program

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College students attend the 2023 Mission Concept kickoff event at Kennedy Space Center in Florida in May 2023. At the event students work with officials from NASA and branches of the U.S. military to learn more about creating CubeSat mission launch proposals. NASA EDGE Eight university teams have been selected to work with NASA and the U.S. military to improve their small satellite proposals, ultimately increasing the possibility of flying their technology in space, and potentially launching their own careers in the space industry. NASA’s CSLI (CubeSat Launch Initiative) is…

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NASA Selects New Round of Candidates for CubeSat Missions to Station

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Students from the University of Michigan work on their Measurement of Actuator Response and In Orbit (MARIO) CubeSat which launched to the International Space Station in November 2022. Photo credit: University of Michigan NASA selected 10 small research satellites across eight states to fly to the International Space Station as part of the agency’s efforts to expand education and science opportunities, support technology advancement, and provide for workforce development. These small satellites, or CubeSats, use a standard size and form measured in units. One unit (1U) is 10x10x11 centimeters and…

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NASA, DOD Seek Universities to Develop CubeSats for Launch 

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A set of NanoRacks CubeSats is photographed by an Expedition 38 crew member after the deployment by the Small Satellite Orbital Deployer (SSOD). The CubeSats program contains a variety of experiments such as Earth observations and advanced electronics testing. NASA NASA is collaborating with the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force to offer a set of hands-on learning engagements that will help higher education institutions, faculty, and students learn more about what it takes to build small satellites and be selected for flight opportunities.  Teams selected for the University…

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Kennedy Space Center Looks Ahead to a Busy Year in 2024

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The mobile launcher, carried by the crawler-transporter 2, rolls out from its park site location to Launch Pad 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida in August 2023 for testing ahead of the agency’s Artemis II mission. NASA/Ben Smegelsky Another jam-packed year is in store for NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida as the momentum of a busy 2023 is carried forward into the new year. On the horizon are missions to the Moon, more crew and cargo flights to the International Space Station, and several upgrade projects across…

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