From NASA.Gov NASA Awards Second-Round Prizes in Cube Quest Challenge NASA has awarded $30,000 each to the five top-scoring teams that competed in the latest segment of the agency’s small satellite Cube Quest competition. Cube Quest is a $5 million challenge that requires teams to design, build and deliver flight-qualified CubeSats capable of advanced operations […]
Cubesat manufacturers and operators are beginning to align with the emerging class of new small launch vehicles which were designed to service the booming market for tiny spacecraft. New Zealand based Rocket Lab, which introduced on-line booking late last year, has announced that it has signed a launch contract with San Francisco based Spire, which […]
NASA held a press conference at the Marshall Space Flight Center today to announce the selection of a seven cubesats which will catch a ride to deep space on the maiden flight of the Space Launch system in 2018. Altogether the space agency plans on filling 13 slots out of a total possible number of […]
Later this year as part of the CRS-8 resupply flight, SpaceX will deliver the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module, or BEAM, to the International Space Station. BEAM, funded as part of a $17.8 million contract, will ride to orbit in the trunk of the Dragon spacecraft, and then be berthed to the Station’s Tranquility module where […]
Standing in the foyer of the Colorado state capitol earlier today, United Launch Alliance CEO Tory Bruno introduced a new cubesat launch program aimed at promoting STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education at the university level. Beginning in 2017, ULA will mount a dedicated cubesat launcher on the Aft Bulkead Carrier of the Atlas […]
Update: From NASA: ” The Optical Communications and Sensor Demonstration (OCSD) satellite that launched Oct. 8 currently is experiencing a problem with its attitude control system, according to The Aerospace Corporation. Aerospace built the CubeSat and is operating it in orbit. The OCSD satellite is communicating by radio with the ground, but the attitude control […]
The widening of access to space for small to micro payloads took a giant leap ahead today with the announcement that Spaceflight Industries has purchased a dedicated rideshare launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9. The launch, which will be to Sun Synchronous Orbit in late 2017, marks the first time an EELV class booster has […]
India conducted the 31st flight of its Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) earlier today in a mission which boosted that nation’s first space observatory, ASTROSAT, as well as four uniquely named cubesats for U.S. based Spire. The PSLV flew in its heavy configuration, the XL version which includes six solid strap-on boosters and lifted off […]
Press Release Firely Space Systems: SEPTEMBER 10TH, 2015 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE First Rocket Engine Test a Success for Firefly Space Systems CEDAR PARK, Texas, September 10, 2015 Firefly Space Systems, the Texas-based developer of dedicated launch vehicles for the small satellite market, announced today that it has successfully tested its first rocket engine, Firefly Rocket […]
In talking with attendees at the NewSpace 2015 conference which was held in Mid-July in San Jose, California, two emerging themes became clear. The first is that the cubesat revolution is beginning in earnest, and it offers the potential for fundamentally changing how we go about the process of conducting space exploration. From miniaturized cryo-coolers […]
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