Category Archives: Space Station

A mysterious object that came crashing through a house in Florida is possibly debris from the International Space Station (ISS).

The cylindrical tube was a few inches long and weighed nearly 2 pounds (0.9 kilograms). It crashed through the roof and both floors of Alejandro Otero's home in Naples, Florida, at 2:34 pm local on March 8, startling his son.

The origins of the object have yet to be determined, but Otero thinks it's likely one of nine drained batteries discarded from the ISS. Earlier the same day, a large cargo pallet carrying the batteries and belonging to the Japanese space agency JAXA re-entered Earth's atmosphere over the Gulf of Mexico. Jettisoned from the space station in 2021, the debris was expected to burn up in the atmosphere, one may have survived reentry.

"Looks like one of those pieces missed Ft Myers and landed in my house in Naples," Otero wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, in response to a post describing the jettisoned pallet. "Tore through the roof and went thru 2 floors. Almost his [hit] my son."

Related: Sci-fi inspired tractor beams are real, and could solve a major space junk problem

Otero has handed over the home-wrecking debris to officials from NASA.

"NASA collected an item in cooperation with the homeowner, and will analyze the object at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida as soon as possible to determine its origin," Joshua Finch, a NASA spokesperson, told Live Science.

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Once engineers identify the provenance of the object, Otero will seek to make a claim against the federal government to pay for his house's repair, although this process could prove complex if the material is deemed to have come from JAXA.

Florida isn't the only place that's been hit by falling space junk. Four of China's Long March 5B boosters the workhorses of the country's growing space program fell to Earth between 2020 and 2022, raining debris down on the Ivory Coast, Borneo and the Indian Ocean. In 2021 and 2022, debris from falling SpaceX rockets smashed into a farm in Washington state and landed on a sheep farm in Australia.

Space agencies around the world try to keep tabs on the more than 30,000 largest pieces of junk, but many more pieces of debris are too small to monitor.

Scientists have proposed multiple ways of tidying Earth's skies, such as gathering junk up in nets; collecting it with clawed robots; or firing a halfmile-long (0.8 kilometer) tether from another spacecraft to grab it.

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Mysterious object that crashed through Florida home was likely space junk from the International Space Station - Livescience.com

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. Japans Mitsubishi Corp. is joining Starlab Space, the joint venture of Voyager Space and Airbus Defence and Space that is developing a commercial space station.

Starlab Space announced April 4 that Mitsubishi has become a strategic partner of Starlab Space and would take an equity stake in the joint venture. A Starlab spokesperson declined to provide specific details about the agreement, including its financial value or the size of the equity stake.

We are excited to join forces withStarlab, a best-in-class team comprising Airbus and Voyager, to drive innovation and catalyze advancements in space exploration, said Mikito Nakaniwa, division chief operating officer of Mitsubishis Infrastructure, Ship & Aerospace Division, in a statement.

The announcement did not identify any specific roles or responsibilities for Mitsubishi in Starlab, stating only that the company would significantly increase the value ofStarlab by using space research to support terrestrial product development in a range of industries. It would also provide Japanese industry with access to Starlabs capabilities.

Our next-generation space station relies on both innovation and experience. Hence Mitsubishi Corporation, a pioneer of space business in Japan since the 1960s with a strong drive for shaping the future, is a perfect addition to our team, said Mike Schoellhorn, chief executive of Airbus Defence and Space, in the statement.

Having a Japanese company involved in Starlab could also help the company access funding from the Japanese government. Current partners in the International Space Station are pondering how they will continue their current activities on the station once it is retired around the end of the decade, with a preference for keeping investments in their countries rather than making direct payments to an American commercial space station operator.

Voyager and Airbus announced the creation of the Starlab Space joint venture in August, with Voyager holding a majority stake. The companies had previously announced an agreement where Airbus would provide technical support, including work on the stations single large module, for Starlab.

One reason for the partnership was to give Starlab better access to European markets through Airbus. In November, Airbus and Voyager announced they signed a memorandum of understanding with the European Space Agency to explore how to use Starlab to provide ESA with continued access to low Earth orbit after the retirement of the ISS. That could involve using commercial cargo and crew vehicles developed in Europe with the support of ESA, which announced a cargo vehicle initiative around the time the memorandum was signed.

Starlab Space announced in January that it reached an agreement with SpaceX to launch the Starlab station on a single flight of SpaceXs Starship vehicle in the late 2020s.

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Mitsubishi takes stake in Starlab Space - SpaceNews

A picture of the International Space Station captured by the Space Shuttle Discovery in 2007. Last month, a two-ton pallet of batteries released by the space station in 2021 re-entered Earth's atmosphere. It was expected to mostly burn up upon re-entry, but a two-pound piece of debris that struck a Florida home may have come from the batteries. NASA

A cylindrical object weighing about two pounds tore through the roof of Alejandro Oteros home in Naples, Florida, last month. Otero was on vacation when his son, who was in the house when the debris fell, gave him a call, WINK News Annalise Iraola reported in March.

Something ripped through the house and then made a big hole on the floor and on the ceiling, Otero told the publication. It was a tremendous sound. It almost hit my son. He was two rooms over and heard it all.

Now, experts speculate the falling object might have come from the International Space Station (ISS)the crash occurred shortly after some batteries ejected from the station in 2021 re-entered Earths atmosphere, per Ars Technicas Stephen Clark.

The total mass of the batteries was originally 2.6 metric tons, but most of it was expected to burn up upon re-entry, according to the European Space Agency (ESA).

So you had a two-ton thing that re-entered the atmosphere, and this is some small fragment of it that survived and went through this poor guys house, Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist at the Center for Astrophysics, Harvard & Smithsonian, who studies atmospheric re-entries, theorizes to Gizmodos Passant Rabie.

NASA has retrieved the object and is planning to analyze it to determine its origin, as Joshua Finch, a NASA spokesperson, tells Live Sciences Ben Turner.

In 2018, nine used batteries on the ISS got stranded at the station instead of being shipped back to Earth on a supply ship due to a series of delays, per Ars Technica. On March 11, 2021, the ISS released the batteries, attached to a cargo pallet, into space.

The pallet is safely moving away from the station and will orbit Earth between two to four years before burning up harmlessly in the atmosphere, NASA said in a 2021 statement. As the pallet approached Earth last month however, the ESA said in a statement that some parts of the debris could reach the groundthough the likelihood of someone getting hit was very low.

The ESA estimated that the batteries would reach Earth between 1:30 p.m. and 3:08 p.m. Eastern time on March 8. Changing levels of atmospheric drag, among other factors, made it difficult to predict where the re-entry would occur. The crash at Oteros home occurred at 2:34 p.m. Eastern time on March 8, per Ars Technica.

Such instances of falling debris are far from uncommona large object from space makes an uncontrolled re-entry into Earths atmosphere around once a week, with much of the object burning up. But the pallet with nine batteries was the most massive object to ever be released from the ISS. And on this occasion, a fragment may have survived and struck Oteros home.

I was shaking. I was completely in disbelief. What are the chances of something landing on my house with such force to cause so much damage, Otero told WINK News. Im super grateful that nobody got hurt.

NASA was rolling the dice and they made an unlucky throw, McDowell tells Gizmodo of the batteries release.

Around 28,000 objects launched to space remain in orbit around Earth, per the ESA. The Ivory Coast, Borneo and the Indian Ocean have been hit by falling debris from Chinas Long March 5B boosters, and SpaceX rockets have rained material on farms in Washington state and Australia, per Live Science.

Otero could make a claim against the federal government for the cost of the damage if the object is NASAs, Michelle Hanlon, an aviation and space law expert at the University of Mississippi, tells Ars Technica. Even if the object was launched by another country, that country would be absolutely liable to the homeowner for the damage caused, Hanlon says to the publication.

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Falling Object That Crashed Into Florida Home May Be Debris From the International Space Station - Smithsonian Magazine

Roscosmos Cosmonaut Oleg Novitsky, the first female cosmonaut from Belarus Marina Vasilevskaya and NASA astronaut Loral OHara returned from the International Space Station to Earth.

At 09:24 Moscow time, the engine of the Soyuz MS-24 manned spacecraft was turned on to decelerate from orbit, at 09:54 the descent vehicle entered the dense layers of the atmosphere and at 10:03 the main parachute was inserted.

At exactly 10:18 Moscow time, the Soyuz MS-24 international crew landed 147km south-east of the Kazakh city of Zhezkazgan.

Marina Vitalyevna Vasilevskaya(born 14 September 1990) is a flight instructor andflight attendantforBelavia AirlinesinBelarus.She is the firstBelarusianwoman to be launched into space.

In December 2022, during a competitive selection held inBelarus, she was selected among six applicants from more than three thousand women to participate in a space flight under theBelarusian Woman in Space project on the RussianSoyuzspacecraft toISS.

On 24 July 2023, she commenced theoretical and practical training for the flight at theYuri A. Gagarin Cosmonaut Training CenterinStar City, Russia.In October, she began practical training on theSoyuz MSspacecraft simulator to conduct routine flight andundockingoperations,and underwent training inzero gravityconditions on theIlyushin II-76 laboratory aircraft.

She traveled to the station withRoscosmoscosmonautOleg NovitskyandNASAastronautTracy Caldwell-Dyson, where she and Oleg spent approximately 13 days aboard the orbital complex as a part of21st ISS visiting expedition.

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Former flight attendant for Belavia Airlines is back on earth from the ISS - AIRLIVE

SpaceX launched its 30th cargo mission to the International Space Station (ISS) for NASA this afternoon (March 21), carrying 3 tons of supplies and scientific hardware to the orbiting lab.

A Falcon 9 rocket carrying an uncrewed Cargo Dragon spacecraft lifted off today at 4:55 p.m. EDT (2055 GMT) from Space Launch Complex-40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

The mission, known as CRS-30, was the first cargo launch from SLC-40 since March 2020. Since then, the pad has been outfitted with a new launch tower, which allows for more efficient cargo loading and upgrades the facility to support crewed launches as well.

Related: SpaceX to launch 30th cargo mission to the ISS for NASA this week

Before the SLC-40 upgrades, "we loaded cargo while the vehicle was still horizontal using a mobile cleanroom before we would take the vehicle vertical for lunch, but thanks to this new state of the art crew tower, required for our human spaceflight missions, that late-load cargo operation got a massive upgrade, too," Sarah Walker, director of SpaceX Dragon mission management, said during a pre-launch press briefing on Tuesday (March 19).

"It's much easier to load a huge complement of time-critical NASA science into our Dragon spacecraft in the flight orientation," she added.

The Falcon 9's first stage booster came back to Earth as planned today, making a vertical touchdown at SpaceX's Landing Zone-1, at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, about eight minutes after launch. It was the sixth launch and landing for the booster, according to a SpaceX mission description.

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The CRS-30's Cargo Dragon capsule separated from the rocket's upper stage just under 12 minutes after launch. The spacecraft will spend around two days en route to the ISS, with a rendezvous and docking scheduled for 7:30 a.m. EDT on Saturday (March 23). You can watch that orbital meetup live here at Space.com, courtesy of NASA, beginning at 5:30 a.m. EDT (0930 GMT) on Saturday.

Over 6,000 pounds (2,721 kilograms) of scientific supplies, maintenance equipment, two new coffee kits, fresh fruits and vegetables and other food for the station's inhabitants are stowed aboard Dragon on CRS-30. Included in that haul is a new spare pump stored in Dragon's trunk, which will be integrated into the space station's external thermal loop system.

In addition to materials to support ongoing research aboard the orbital laboratory, a number of new science investigations are also aboard CRS-30 to enrich our understanding of the effects of microgravity on a range of biological and technological processes.

TheNano Particle Haloing Suspensionexperiment, for example, will study nanoparticles' reaction to electrical fields, and their use to help synthesize semiconductor material known as "quantum dots," which holds the potential to greatly increase the efficiency of solar panel technology.

The Multi-resolution Scanner (MRS)experiment will utilize the existing autonomous Astrobee robots aboard the ISS to test 3D mapping technology. "The team has big plans for future applications [of this technology] in spaceflight," said Heidi Parris, associate program scientist at NASA's ISS Program Research Office. "If it works well inside the ISS, this technology could be developed to use for scanning of exterior hull damage on the ISS or other space stations, as well as lunar and Martian surface scanning."

Parris highlighted a number of other investigations during Tuesday's press call as well, including the APEX-09 experiment to examine the genetic makeup of plants in microgravity.

CRS-30 "is also going to launch research into many, many other areas, including cellular microbiology, crystal growth, astrophysics, human research, material science and much more," Parris said.

CRS-30 will remain docked to the Harmony module's zenith (upward-facing) port for about a month before deorbiting and returning to Earth. Dragon is the only cargo vehicle currently able to withstand reentry forces through Earth's atmosphere, and it's therefore used to return a number of research materials and other spent items from the space station.

The other two currently operational cargo vehicles Northrup Grumman's Cygnus spacecraft and Russia's Progress vessel are designed to burn up upon reentry.

Editor's note: This story was updated at 5:15 p.m. ET on March 21 with news of successful rocket launch, first-stage landing and Dragon deployment.

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SpaceX launches its 30th Dragon cargo mission to the ISS (video) - Space.com

The International Space Station (ISS) welcomed cargo and prepared for a new crew arrival Saturday, as SpaceXs CRS-30 Cargo Dragon docked at the sprawling orbital outpost at 7:19 a.m. EDT and Soyuz MS-25crewed by Russian cosmonaut Oleg Novitsky, NASA astronaut Tracy Dyson and the first national space traveler of Belarus, Marina Vasilevskayatook flight from the Baikonur Cosmodrome at 5:36:10 p.m. local time (8:36:10 a.m. EDT). Elsewhere, at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida, following a one-day weather delay, SpaceX is gearing up for its ninth Falcon 9 launch of March early on Saturday evening.

Laden with more than 6,000 pounds (2,700 kilograms) of payloads, equipment and supplies for the incumbent Expedition 70, CRS-30 is the 30th Cargo Dragon resupply mission to the space station, conducted under the second-round Commercial Resupply Services (CRS2) contract between NASA and SpaceX. A six-times-used Falcon lifted the four-times-flown Cargo Dragon ship from storied Space Launch Complex (SLC)-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Fla., at 4:55 p.m. EDT Thursday, for a 38.5-hour, 25-orbit rendezvous and phasing profile to reach the station.

With SLC-40 back in service for Dragon operations for the first time since March 2020, CRS-30s haul of cargo includes an experiment to investigate the carbon dioxide capturing mechanisms of two types of grasses to better understand changes in photosynthesis and plant metabolism in space, a multi-resolution scanner for the stations on-board Astrobee robotic helper to support three-dimensional sensing, mapping and situational awareness functions and a deployable CubeSat to measure ocean ice levels and thickness. Also aboard the Cargo Dragon is a replacement ISS pump module, along with goodies for the Expedition 70 crew ranging from citrus fruit and apples to cherry tomatoes to two coffee kits.

This particular Cargo Dragon ship, tailnumbered C209, is making her fourth trek to the station after previously supporting a trio of month-long ISS research trips in summer 2021 and more recently over the Christmas/New Year period in December 2021-January 2022 and latterly in the spring of last year. Across those three missions, she logged over 102 cumulative days in space, transporting more than 20,200 pounds (9,100 kilograms) of cargo to the ISS and returning 14,500 pounds (6,600 kilograms) of research samples and unneeded hardware back to Earth.

In readiness for CRS-30s arrival, Expedition 70 astronauts Loral OHara and Mike Barratt spent Friday reviewing procedures for their monitoring role in the rendezvous. The Cargo Dragon docked autonomously at the space-facing (or zenith) port of the Harmony node at 7:19 a.m. EDT for a month-long stay.

Attention then turned to Site 31/6 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, where a 162-foot-tall (49-meter) Soyuz-2.1 booster stood primed with the Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft to loft a new crew to the station. Originally scheduled to fly at 6:21:18 p.m. local time (9:21:18 a.m. EDT) Thursday, the launch was scrubbed inside T-20 seconds and teams recycled for a backup opportunity early Saturday morning. The two-day delay also forced an adjustment to Soyuz MS-25s orbital mechanics and phasing, as Novitsky, Dyson and Vasilevskaya shifted from a three-hour and two-orbit ultra-fast rendezvous profile to a longer approach of two days and 32 orbits.

With temperatures in the mid-50s Fahrenheit, a little warmer than Thursday, todays launch day dawned fine if overcast at Baikonur. The prime crew and their backupsRussian cosmonaut Ivan Vagner, U.S. astronaut Don Pettit and Anastasia Lenkova of Belaruswere awakened early Thursday and showered, dressed and ceremonially autographed their doors at Baikonurs Cosmonaut Hotel.

A solemn blessing by a Russian Orthodox priest was followed by Novitsky, Dyson and Vasilevskaya getting bussed out to Site 254 to don their Sokol (Falcon) launch and entry suits. That gave the crew a last chance to speak (from behind glass screens) with friends and loved ones.

They were then bussed out to Site 31/6 to board Soyuz MS-25, with Novitsky assuming the center commanders seat in the tiny descent module, flanked by Vasilevskaya to his left and Dyson to his right. In the final minutes of the countdown, Russian music was piped into the Soyuz cabin for the crews benefit.

At T-5 minutes, the launch keyan actual, physical key, inserted in the launch pad bunker to transition the boosters launch sequence to autonomous modewas inserted and Novitskys controls were unlocked. Internal avionics aboard Soyuz MS-25 were spooled up in readiness for liftoff.

As the countdown entered the final minute, all eyes were focused on the launch pads two umbilical towers, both of which were set to retract and recline to their fallback positions in the final seconds before liftoff. The second of these towers, which normally retracts about 15 seconds prior to T-0 marking the initiation of engine sequence start, did not separate last Thursday and the launch was aborted.

On Saturday, by contract, the launch proved charmed. Vehicle to internal power, came the call from the Russian announcer as the first umbilical tower swung away at T-30 seconds. Autosequence initiated, she followed, as the second tower retracted a few seconds past T-20 seconds. Then: LaunchIgnitionEngines to maximum thrust

At 5:36:10 p.m. local time (8:36:10 a.m. EDT), a dull ruddy glow from the rockets RD-108A core stage and four RD-107A tapering boosters appeared at the base of the Soyuz-2.1a as Novitsky, Dyson and Vasilevskaya braced for liftoff. We now have engine ignition, said NASAs Rob Navias. Turbopumps and engines up to flight speednow at full throttleWe have liftoff: Dyson, Novitsky and Vasilevskaya finally underway on a two-day journey to the International Space Station

Heading out of Baikonur on a northeasterly trajectory, the rocket punched out 930,000 pounds (422,000 kilograms) of thrust and it roared smoothly into steadily darkening skies. Ascent was entirely nominal and Soyuz MS-25 separated from the rocket precisely on time at eight minutes and 46 seconds into the flight.

Novitsky, Dyson and Vasilevskaya are scheduled to dock at the Earth-facing (or nadir) port of the stations Prichal module at 11:09 a.m. EDT on Monday, after a 38.5-hour, 25-orbit voyage, lengthened from the nominal three-hour and two-orbit ultra-fast rendezvous regime by orbital mechanics and phasing demands. Before launch, Dyson remarked that she was particularly looking forward to a short trek to the ISS, having endured an uncomfortable two-day ride in the tiny Soyuz cabin for her last mission in 2010. Doubtless, the wait for her next long-duration station stay will be worth it.

Meanwhile, following a day-long weather delay, SpaceX is looking to a four-hour window later tonight for its ninth Falcon 9 mission of March. Scrubbed on Friday night due to weather odds that climbed no better than 20-percent-favorabletempered by gusty winds, showers and isolated thunderstorms across the Space Coastteams realigned for a four-hour launch window opening at 7:39 p.m. EDT and closing at 11:29 p.m. EDT Saturday.

Laden with 23 Starlink internet communications satellites, workhorse B1060the fourth booster to reach a life-leading 19th launch and the third to do so this yearwill rise from historic Pad 39A at Floridas Kennedy Space Center (KSC) for the ninth Falcon 9 mission of March and the 28th of the year so far. An on-time launch will permit the deployment of the Starlink payload about 65 minutes into the flight.

Weather predictions are kinder for Saturday, with up to an 80-percent Probability of Go (PGo), according to forecasters at the 45th Weather Squadron at Patrick Space Force Base. Low pressure will be tracking up the Eastern Seaboard, it reported, leaving the Spaceport with northwesterly winds and isolated, wrap-around showers and yielding a primary risk of violating the Cumulus Cloud Rule and Liftoff Winds Rule, associated with the isolated showers. A scrub to Sundays 7:06 p.m. EDT launch time brings increased gradient winds, with lessened chances of showers but a heightened probability of wind violations.

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Space Station Welcomes Cargo, Awaits Crew Arrival - AmericaSpace

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HOUSTONNASAs 30th SpaceX-contracted commercial resupply (CRS-30) mission autonomously docked to the U. S. segment of the International Space Station (ISS) early March 23, delivering a 6,300-lb. payload of crew supplies, scientific and technology research and demonstration materials and station...

SpaceX Resupply Mission Docks With Space Station is published in Aerospace Daily & Defense Report, an Aviation Week Intelligence Network (AWIN) Market Briefing and is included with your AWIN membership.

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SpaceX Resupply Mission Docks With Space Station - Aviation Week

A Soyuz MS-25 vehicle successfully launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Saturday and is scheduled to dock with the International Space Station Monday. Photo by Yuri Kochetkov/EPA-EFE

March 23 (UPI) -- A Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft headed to the International Space Station successfully launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Saturday and has entered near-Earth orbit, officials said.

The spacecraft, crewed by NASA astronaut Tracy Dyson, Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy and Marina Vasilevskaya of Belarus, lifted off at 8:36 a.m. EDT, the Russian state news agency TASS reported.

The spacecraft is scheduled to dock with the space station's Prichal nodal module at about 11:09 a.m. on Monday, according to NASA.

Vasilevskaya is Belarus' first astronaut to join a space mission. She and Novitskiy are scheduled to spend 12 days on the space station before returning to Earth on the Soyuz MS-24 along with NASA astronaut Loral O'Hara on April 6.

Dyson is scheduled to return with Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko and Nikolay Chub in September.

Saturday's successful launch occurred two days after an initial launch was scrubbed 20 seconds prior to liftoff Thursday.

NASA spokesman Rob Navias said the engines did not fire as intended, which triggered an automatic abort system. Roscosmos engineers removed the crew and secured the rocket after ceasing fueling operations Thursday.

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Soyuz MS-25 flight to Space Station launches successfully after Thursday's scrub - UPI News

German Press Agency

MOSCOW Two astronauts from Belarus and the U.S. have set off for the International Space Station together with a Russian cosmonaut, marking the first time that a woman from Belarus is traveling to space.

The Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft lifted off from Russias Baikonur Cosmodrome in the steppes of Kazakhstan at 1236 GMT.

A first launch attempt had been aborted 20 seconds before takeoff on Thursday due to technical problems.

Saturdays launch saw Belorussian astronaut Marina Vasilevskaya, who is being accompanied by NASA astronaut Tracy Dyson and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Novitsky, becoming the first woman from her country to make it into space.

Space cooperation between the U.S. and Russia, including Moscows ally Belarus, continues despite the U.S. sanctions imposed on Russia over the war in Ukraine.

The launch also saw two women aboard a Soyuz capsule flying to the ISS for the first time.

This is Dysons third flight into space and Novitskys fourth.

Vasilevskaya works as a flight attendant for the Belorussian company Belavia. During her two-week stay on the ISS, she will carry out scientific experiments and take spectral images of the Earths surface.

According to Russian space agency Roskosmos, she will return to Earth with Novitsky and U.S. astronaut Loral OHara in the Soyuz MS-24 at the beginning of April.

Dyson will remain on the ISS until September and will then travel home with cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub.

Kononenko, 59, holds the record for the longest stay on the ISS.

By the end of his fifth current stay there, scheduled until Sept. 23, he will have spent more than 1,000 days in space.

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Soyuz rocket carrying first Belorussian woman in space en route to ISS - The Spokesman Review

NASA selected 10 small research satellites across eight states to fly to the International Space Station as part of the agencys 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. One unit (1U) is 10x10x11 centimeters and allows for the modular design of larger CubeSats measuring up to 12U. CubeSats encourage greater collaboration across government, industry, and academia because they are modular and inexpensive to build and launch. The small satellites allow for rapid development and provide a cost-effective means for science investigations and technology demonstrations in space.

This years selections include the first project from Delaware, three from minority serving institutions, and a submission from a K-12 school. New participants include the University of Delaware, Oakwood School in California, California State University, Long Beach, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, and the University of Chicago.

NASAs CubeSat Launch Initiative (CSLI) selected the missions, currently planned to launch in 2025 to 2028, in response to a call for proposals on Aug. 7, 2023.

The complete list of organizations and CubeSats chosen during CSLI 15th selection round are:

NASA has selected CubeSat missions from 45 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, and launched about 160 CubeSats into space on an ELaNa (Educational Launch of a Nanosatellite) manifest.

The CubeSat Launch Initiative is managed by NASAs Launch Services Program based at the agencys Kennedy Space Center in Florida. For more information about CSLI, visit:

https://go.nasa.gov/CubeSat_initiative

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NASA Selects New Round of Candidates for CubeSat Missions to Station - NASA