Fri, Feb 11, 2011
Twenty Small Satellites To Be Developed By Industry, Academia,
Military
NASA has selected 20 small satellites to fly as auxiliary cargo
aboard rockets planned to launch in 2011 and 2012. The proposed
CubeSats come from a high school in Virginia, universities across
the country, NASA field centers and Department of Defense
organizations.
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 2.2 pounds
or less.
The selections are from the second round of the CubeSat Launch
Initiative. The satellites are expected to conduct technology
demonstrations, educational research or science missions. The
selected spacecraft are eligible for flight after final
negotiations when an opportunity arises. The satellites come from
the following organizations, which include the first high school
proposal selected for a CubeSat flight:
- Air Force Research Lab, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base,
OH
- Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA
- NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD (two
CubeSats)
- NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA (two
CubeSats)
- Naval Research Lab, Washington, DC (two CubeSats)
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Morehead State University, Morehead, KY
- The Planetary Society, Pasadena, in partnership with NASA's
Ames Research Center, Moffitt Field, CA
- Space and Missile Defense Command, Huntsville, AL
- St. Louis University, St. Louis, MS
- Thomas Jefferson High School, Alexandria, VA
- University of Colorado
- University of Hawaii
- University of Louisiana, Lafayette
- University of New Mexico
- U.S. Military Academy
- U.S. Naval Academy
CubeSat NASA Image
The first CubeSats to be carried on an expendable vehicle for
the agency's Launch Services Program will comprise NASA's
Educational Launch of Nanosatellite, or ELaNa, mission. ELaNa will
fly on the Glory mission scheduled to lift off on Feb. 23. The 12
CubeSat payloads selected from the first round of the CubeSat
Launch Initiative will have launch opportunities beginning later
this year.
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