CubeSat propulsion technologies are taking off

CubeSats are becoming ever more popular, with about 2,400 total launched so far. However, the small size limits their options for fundamental space exploration technologies, including propulsion. They become even more critical ...

Eight CubeSats lift off for NASA on Firefly Aerospace rocket

As part of NASA's CubeSat Launch Initiative, Firefly Aerospace launched eight small satellites on July 3 aboard the company's Alpha rocket. Named "Noise of Summer," the rocket successfully lifted off from Space Launch Complex ...

New approach could take space missions to new heights

New Curtin University research could change how space missions are conducted and lead to improvements in industries as diverse as environmental management, agriculture, disaster management and infrastructure inspection.

Hera and its CubeSats speak with mission control

ESA's Hera asteroid mission and its two CubeSats interacted as if they were in space, within the foam pyramid-lined walls of the Agency's Maxwell test chamber in the Netherlands. The trio communicated together, sharing data ...

Tiny satellites can provide significant information about space

CubeSats are satellites constructed of cubic units, or U, a bit smaller than a square tissue box, or about 10 centimeters (about 4 inches) on each side. (A 2U CubeSat, for instance, is about the size of a rectangular tissue ...

Vega's fuel-free CubeSats will use wings to keep in formation

Spain's trio of ANSER CubeSats, due to fly on Europe's next Vega launcher, will fly like a flock of birds in orbit—in more ways than one. Keeping in formation by following their leader, the three shoebox-sized satellite ...

Hera's mini-radar will probe asteroid's heart

The smallest radar to fly in space has been delivered to ESA for integration aboard the miniature Juventas CubeSat, part of ESA's Hera mission for planetary defense. The radar will perform the first radar imaging of an asteroid, ...

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