CubeSat
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NASA
A New Compact Instrument Enables High-Fidelity Measurements of Energetic Particles on CubeSats
A team of NASA-sponsored scientists and engineers has developed a novel approach to observing high-energy particles in the near-Earth space environment, incorporating miniaturized sensors into a compact, multi-view particle detection instrument unlike any before it. Built for NASA’s Relativistic Electron Atmospheric Loss (REAL) CubeSat mission, the innovative instrument (also called REAL) enables more complete measurements of how energetic particles are…
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NASA
NASA Seeks Interest for Artemis Mission CubeSats
Organizations interested in launching CubeSats on future Artemis missions should respond to NASA’s request for information (RFI) by Monday, June 1, for initial consideration. “The SLS (Space Launch System) rocket and the Artemis missions provide great opportunities for teams to conduct important, science and technology investigations that contribute to the expansion of human space exploration,” said Courtney Ryals, acting manager, SLS payload…
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NASA
NASA Launches Six CubeSats to International Space Station
Experiments and supplies bound for the International Space Station launched on April 11 as part of the agency’s Northrop Grumman Commercial Resupply Services 24 mission. As part of the approximately 11,000 pounds cargo that lifted off inside the company’s Cygnus XL spacecraft, NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative (CSLI) launched six CubeSats built by U.S. educational institutions and non-profit organizations. These CubeSats are Coconut,…
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NASA
CubeSats’ Missions Begin
NASA astronaut Chris Williams pointed a camera out a window on the cupola as a set of CubeSats were deployed outside the Kibo laboratory module by a small satellite orbital deployer into Earth orbit. Students from Mexico, Italy, Thailand, Malaysia, and Japan designed the shoe-boxed satellites for a series of Earth observations and technology demonstrations. CubeSats are a class of nanosatellites – small spacecraft weighing 1-10 kilograms – that use a…
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NASA
NASA’s SLS Rocket: Secondary Payloads
When NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket launches the agency’s Artemis II mission to the Moon, four CubeSats, or small satellites, will be hitching a ride inside the rocket’s Orion stage adapter (OSA). All four Artemis II CubeSats are provided by countries that are signatories of the Artemis Accords. Payload deployment, which begins approximately five hours after launch, is controlled…
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NASA
NASA’s Pandora Small Satellite Launched
In this photo from early January 2026, teams prepare to encapsulate NASA’s Pandora small satellite, NASA-sponsored Star-Planet Activity Research CubeSat (SPARCS), and the Black Hole Coded Aperture Telescope (BlackCAT) CubeSat, inside a SpaceX Falcon 9 payload fairing. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying NASA’s Pandora small satellite lifted off at 5:44 a.m. PST Sunday, Jan. 11, from Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg…
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NASA
NASA’s Pandora Satellite, CubeSats to Explore Exoplanets, Beyond
A new NASA spacecraft called Pandora is awaiting launch ahead of its journey to study the atmospheres of exoplanets, or worlds beyond our solar system, and their stars. Along for the ride are two shoebox-sized satellites called BlackCAT (Black Hole Coded Aperture Telescope) and SPARCS (Star-Planet Activity Research CubeSat), as NASA innovates with ambitious science missions that take low-cost, creative approaches to answering…
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NASA
NASA’s DiskSat Technology Demo Launches to Low Earth Orbit
NASA’s DiskSat technology demonstration mission will test the performance of a new small spacecraft platform designed to expand the capabilities of current small spacecraft. By demonstrating the advantages of a flat, disk-shaped architecture over the conventional CubeSat design, DiskSat aims to enable lower-cost space missions, broaden scientific opportunities, and increase overall access to space. At 12:03 a.m. EST on Thursday,…
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NASA
NASA’s Two-in-One Satellite Propulsion Demo Begins In-Space Test
NASA is working with commercial partners to create high-performing, reliable propulsion systems that will help small spacecraft safely maneuver in orbit, reach intended destinations across the solar system, and accomplish mission operations. Two new micropropulsion technologies are being tested in space onboard a CubeSat called DUPLEX (Dual Propulsion Experiment) that deployed into low Earth orbit from the International Space Station…
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NASA
NASA CubeSat Finds New Radiation Belts After May 2024 Solar Storm
Key Points The May 2024 solar storm created two new temporary belts of high-energy particles surrounding Earth. Such belts have been seen before, but the new ones were particularly long lasting, especially the new proton belt. The findings are particularly important for spacecraft launching into geostationary orbits, which can be damaged as they traverse the dangerous belts. The largest solar…
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