Tag: CubeSats
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Northrop Grumman introducing new capabilities on Cygnus cargo craft
File photo of a Cygnus supply ship departing the International Space Station on Northrop Grumman’s 10th cargo mission Feb. 8. Credit: NASA The next Cygnus resupply mission to the International Space Station set for liftoff Wednesday from Virginia’s Eastern Shore will introduce new capabilities for the commercial cargo freighter, including a longer operating life enabled…
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Photos: Antares reaches launch pad in Virginia for space station cargo mission
A two-stage Northrop Grumman Antares rocket rolled out of its horizontal integration facility Monday for the mile-journey south to launch pad 0A at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport in Virginia, where liftoff on a space station resupply mission is scheduled for Wednesday. Riding a self-propelled transporter/erector along a two-lane road, the Antares rocket completed the one-mile…
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Tethers Unlimited says two-way radio for small satellites has aced first orbital test
The software-defined SWIFT-SLX S-band radio is designed to fit on a CubeSat-class satellite. (Tethers Unlimited Photo) Tethers Unlimited weathered a wave of bad news over the winter, but now some good news has bloomed. The company, headquartered in Bothell, Wash., reports that its SWIFT-SLX S-band radio has been successfully operated in orbit. The compact software-defined…
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CubeSat deployed from space station to test sample return technology
Students work with the TechEdSat 8 CubeSat before its launch to the International Space Station. Credit: NASA One of five CubeSats deployed from the International Space Station last month is testing a steerable drag brake that could find use in future smallsats to return experiment samples to the ground from low Earth orbit, or on…
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Cygnus supply ship departs space station for extended mission
EDITOR’S NOTE: Updated at 12 p.m. EST (1700 GMT) after departure, with updated information on nanosatellite deployments. The Cygnus spacecraft is released from the space station’s robot arm Friday. Credit: NASA TV/Spaceflight Now A commercial Cygnus supply ship departed the International Space Station on Friday for an extended mission to deploy five nanosatellites and conduct other…
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Two mini-probes fade into the sunset beyond Mars: Is Opportunity rover next?
This image of Mars was captured by one of NASA’s MarCO satellites from a distance of about 4,700 miles, about 10 minutes after the descent of NASA’s Mars InSight lander on Nov. 26, 2018. The grid seen on the right edge of the image is the spacecraft’s high-gain antenna. (NASA / JPL-Caltech Photo) Farewell, WALL-E…
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NASA’s first interplanetary CubeSats fall silent beyond Mars
MarCO-B, one of the experimental Mars Cube One (MarCO) CubeSats, took these images as it approached Mars. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech After a successful mission that pushed the limits of small satellite technology, ground controllers have lost contact with two briefcase-sized CubeSats beyond Mars, NASA said Tuesday. The pioneering Mars Cube One, or MarCO, mission set records…
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NASA’s first interplanetary CubeSats fall silent beyond Mars
MarCO-B, one of the experimental Mars Cube One (MarCO) CubeSats, took these images as it approached Mars. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech After a successful mission that pushed the limits of small satellite technology, ground controllers have lost contact with two briefcase-sized CubeSats beyond Mars, NASA said Tuesday. The pioneering Mars Cube One, or MarCO, mission set records…
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China’s Long March 11 rocket lofts Earth-imaging and tech demo satellites
China’s Long March 11 rocket fires into space Monday from the Jiuquan space base. Credit: Xinhua China’s second space launch of the year released four satellites into orbits more than 300 miles (500 kilometers) in altitude, adding two spacecraft to the Chinese-owned Jilin 1 commercial Earth-imaging constellation and deploying two smallsats on tech demo missions.…
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Japan’s Epsilon rocket launches seven tech demo satellites
A Japanese Epsilon rocket lifted off at 0050:20 GMT Friday (7:50:20 p.m. EST Thursday) from the Uchinoura Space Center in southwestern Japan. Credit: JAXA Seven small satellites launched aboard a Japanese Epsilon rocket Friday, including a diverse suite of tech demo payloads and a spacecraft designed to create an artificial meteor shower next year that…