News Archive / Tagged: CubeSat
-
Former SpaceX founding members unveil Vector Space Systems
Jason RhianApril 28th, 2016If the NewSpace era has become known for anything, it's for the diversity of players it has brought to the market. In one recent case, one of the core companies of the NewSpace movement has seen founding members of SpaceX form their own company—Vector Space Systems.
-
Swedish company introduces new ground operations service for small satellites
Tomasz NowakowskiApril 15th, 2016SSC, a company providing advanced space services, announced Wednesday, April 13, its newest project dedicated to lowering the operational costs of small satellites. The new product, called SSC Infinity, is a set of new ground operations services that will utilize full-motion antennas in the 16-foot (five-meter) or smaller class. The company hopes that its newest offer will reduce risks associated with satellite launch, insertion, system and constellation checkout.
-
Slovakia to send its first ever satellite into space
Tomasz NowakowskiApril 11th, 2016Slovakia is gearing up to launch its first satellite to orbit with the aim of demonstrating the country’s ability to carry out scientific experiments in space. The pocket-sized one-unit CubeSat, named skCUBE, is currently slated for liftoff in June atop SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The central European state is one of the last countries on the continent to have its own satellite.
-
Hitching a ride on SLS to study solar particles
Tomasz NowakowskiMarch 1st, 2016A miniature research spacecraft called the CubeSat to study Solar Particles (CuSP) is one of the projects that will have the opportunity to hitch a ride on the historic first flight of NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) in 2018. The microsatellite will observe interplanetary magnetic fields and energetic particles in the solar wind.
-
ULA offers rides for university CubeSats
Joe LatrellNovember 21st, 2015Colorado-based United Launch Alliance (ULA) has announced that the Launch Service Provider is planning an expansion of their CubeSat program with a new rideshare initiative that lets universities and colleges compete for flight opportunities. ULA's President and CEO Tory Bruno weighed in on this new initiative via a press release issued by the company.
-
Expedition 45 finishes rerouting cables and deployes cubesats
Derek RichardsonOctober 13th, 2015The Expedition 45 crew, the current residents on board the International Space Station, spent last week working to finish the rerouting of cables in support of dual berthing operations while ground controllers deployed several CubeSats throughout the week. The crew also unloaded the Russian Progress M-29M cargo ship currently at the orbiting laboratory.
-
China successfully debuts its Long March 11 rocket
Tomasz NowakowskiSeptember 26th, 2015China successfully conducted the debut launch of its Long March 11 rocket. The new booster lofted four micro-satellites to orbit. Lift-off took place at 9:41 p.m. EDT Thursday, Sept. 24 (1:41 a.m. UTC Friday, Sept. 25). The rocket delivered a trio of Tianwang satellites and the Pujiang 1 spacecraft into a Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO).
-
CubeSats to hitch a ride to Mars on NASA’s InSight mission
Tomasz NowakowskiJune 15th, 2015When it comes to interplanetary missions, tiny spacecraft also have their uses. In 2016, two communications-relay CubeSats are scheduled to piggyback aboard a United Launch Alliance (ULA ) Atlas V rocket, which will be used to send NASA’s Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight ) mission to Mars. In so doing, the small satellites will become full-fledged […]
-
Nano-satellite launched from space station tests space brake
Josh TallisMarch 5th, 2015On the afternoon on March 3, the International Space Station deployed a small satellite using its Nanoracks CubeSat Deployer, the first NASA satellite to be thus ejected. TechEdSat-4, as the payload is named, is designed to test new space brake technologies to facilitate the rapid return of payloads to Earth.
-
ISS deploys two cubesats following repairs to launcher
Jim SharkeyMarch 3rd, 2015On Friday, Feb. 27, two small Dove satellites belonging to Planet Labs were successfully deployed into orbit from the International Space Space (ISS). This was the first deployment attempt since the recent completion of on-orbit repairs to the station’s satellite deployment system. More Dove satellites will be deployed through March 15 when the deployment window […]
-
3D printed rocket propulsion system for satellites successfully test-fired
Jason RhianDecember 16th, 2014The MPS-120 CubeSat High-Impulse Adaptable Modular Propulsion System (CHAMPS ) was put through its paces via a hot-fire test carried out by California-based Aerojet Rocketdyne. This particular engine design is a hydrazine-integrated propulsion system for use on small CubeSats and could open up missions that were previously unavailable to the tiny spacecraft. Funded by the NASA […]
-
NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative set to liftoff with SLS
Rae Botsford EndAugust 4th, 2014If NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS), the current heavy-lift rocket program designed to replace the space shuttle, does get the funding it needs, the first mission will carry not humans but 11 cubesats.
-
CubeSats provide big opportunities in small packages
James TuttenApril 26th, 2014KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla — On April 18, 2014 Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX ) launched one of the company’s Falcon 9 v1.1 rockets from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 in Florida. Perched atop was one of the NewSpace firm’s Dragon spacecraft. While much was made about the primary payload of scientific equipment, components, […]
-
Microlaunchers seeking to transform space business
Collin SkocikApril 20th, 2014The popular view of space flight is that it is dominated by such monster vehicles as the Saturn V and space shuttle. Since the first space launch in 1957, the image of a rocket has been of a lumbering, towering behemoth that costs millions of dollars. If a company wants to put a small payload […]
-
NASA Administrator Visits High School Student Satellite Builders
Press ReleaseDecember 20th, 2013NASA Administrator Charles Bolden will visit a suburban Washington school on Friday, Dec. 20 where high school students built a small satellite that was launched into space in November.
