Small Satellite Missions

CubeSat Launch Initiative

CubeSats

For Colleges & Universities

Kennedy Space Center

Launch Services Program

Learning Resources

Space Operations Mission Directorate

NASA Seeks Student Missions to Send to Space in 2026, Beyond

NASA announced a new round of opportunities for CubeSat, developers to build spacecrafts on that will fly on upcoming launches through the agency’s CSLI (CubeSat Launch Initiative). CubeSats are a class of small spacecraft called nanosatellites. The initiative provides space access to U.S.

Posted August 6, 2024

International Space Station (ISS)

Commercial Resupply

CubeSat Launch Initiative

CubeSats

ISS Research

Johnson Space Center

Kennedy Space Center

Northrop Grumman Commercial Resupply

Small Satellite Missions

NASA Science, Cargo Launch on 21st Northrop Grumman Mission to Station

Following a successful launch of NASA’s Northrop Grumman 21st commercial resupply mission, new scientific experiments and cargo for the agency are bound for the International Space Station. Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft, carrying more than 8,200 pounds of supplies to the orbiting laboratory, lifted off at 11:02 a.m.

Posted August 5, 2024

International Space Station (ISS)

Commercial Resupply

CubeSat Launch Initiative

CubeSats

ISS Research

Johnson Space Center

Kennedy Space Center

Northrop Grumman Commercial Resupply

Small Satellite Missions

NASA Sets Coverage for Northrop Grumman’s 21st Station Resupply Launch

Editor’s Note: This media advisory was updated July 31, 2024, to reflect that the launch now is at 11:29 a.m. EDT on Saturday, Aug. 3. NASA, Northrop Grumman, and SpaceX are targeting 11:29 a.m. EDT on Saturday, Aug. 3, for the next launch to deliver science investigations, supplies, and equipment to the International Space Station. […]

Posted July 30, 2024

CubeSat Launch Initiative

CubeSats

Kennedy Space Center

Launch Services Program

Missions

NASA Centers & Facilities

Small Satellite Missions

NASA CubeSat Launches as Rideshare on ESA’s First Ariane 6 Rocket

NASA launched CURIE (CubeSat Radio Interferometry Experiment) as a rideshare payload on the inaugural flight of ESA’s (European Space Agency) Ariane 6 rocket, which launched at 4 p.m. GFT on July 9 from Europe’s Spaceport, the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, in French Guiana. Designed by a team from the University of California, Berkeley, CURIE […]

Posted July 11, 2024

CubeSat Launch Initiative

CubeSats

Goddard Space Flight Center

Heliophysics

Heliophysics Division

Heliophysics Research Program

Science Mission Directorate

Small Satellite Missions

SunRISE (Sun Radio Interferometer Space Experiment)

NASA Mission to Study Mysteries in the Origin of Solar Radio Waves

NASA’s CubeSat Radio Interferometry Experiment, or CURIE, is scheduled to launch July 9, 2024, to investigate the unresolved origins of radio waves coming from the Sun.

Posted July 8, 2024

Small Satellite Missions

Ames Research Center

CubeSat Launch Initiative

CubeSats

Johnson Space Center

Launch Services Program

NASA’s ELaNa 43 Prepares for Firefly Aerospace Launch

NASA is readying for the launch of several small satellites to space, built with the help of students, educators, and researchers from across the country, as part of the agency’s CubeSat Launch Initiative.

Posted June 21, 2024

CubeSat Launch Initiative

CubeSats

Kennedy Space Center

Launch Services Program

NASA Centers & Facilities

Small Satellite Missions

NASA CubeSats Loaded for Launch

Eight CubeSats that are part of NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative have been integrated into Firefly Aerospace’s deployment hardware and are ready to be encapsulated into the payload fairing of Firefly’s Alpha rocket. The launch, named “Noise of Summer,” will lift off early this summer from Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg Space Force Base in […]

Posted June 20, 2024

Space Technology Mission Directorate

Ames Research Center

CubeSats

Game Changing Development Program

General

Small Satellite Missions

Small Spacecraft Technology Program

Tech Demo Missions

Swarming for Success: Starling Completes Primary Mission

After ten months in orbit, the Starling spacecraft swarm successfully demonstrated its primary mission’s key objectives, representing significant achievements in the capability of swarm configurations. Swarms of satellites may one day be used in deep space exploration.

Posted May 29, 2024

Ames Research Center

CubeSats

General

Small Satellite Missions

Space Technology Mission Directorate

NASA Invites Media to Learn About New Tech Mission Powered by the Sun

A new NASA mission is testing a new way to navigate our solar system by hoisting its sail into space – not to catch the wind, but the propulsive power of sunlight. NASA’s Advanced Composite Solar Sail System is led by the agency’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley.

Posted April 23, 2024

Kennedy Space Center

BurstCube

CubeSat Launch Initiative

CubeSats

International Space Station (ISS)

ISS Research

Launch Services Program

Small Satellite Missions

NASA Selects New Round of Candidates for CubeSat Missions to Station

NASA selected 10 small research satellites across eight states to fly to the International Space Station as part of the agency’s efforts to expand education and science opportunities, support technology advancement, and provide for workforce development. These small satellites, or CubeSats, use a standard size and form measured in units.

Posted March 18, 2024