NASA Set to Launch Four CubeSats to Space Station

This photograph shows two women working on a small spacecraft.
NASA engineers Julie Cox and Kate Gasaway install a solar panel on the BurstCube spacecraft in this image. The work was conducted in the CubeSat Lab at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Photo credit: NASA/Sophia Roberts

NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative is sending a group of four small satellites, called CubeSats, to the International Space Station as ELaNa 51 (Educational Launch of Nanosatellites). These small payloads have been developed by NASA and universities and will be deployed from low Earth orbit. 

Once circling Earth, the satellites will help demonstrate and mature technologies meant to improve solar power generation, detect gamma ray bursts, determine crop water usage, and measure root-zone soil and snowpack moisture levels. 

The suite of satellites will hitch a ride aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft set to deliver additional science, crew supplies, and hardware for the company’s 30th commercial resupply services mission for NASA. Liftoff is targeted for 4:55 p.m. EDT Thursday, March 21, from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. 

First Cornhusker State CubeSat 

The first CubeSat from Nebraska is the Big Red Sat-1, which aims to investigate and improve the power production ability of solar cells. It is built by a team of middle and high school students mentored by University of Nebraska-Lincoln undergraduate engineering students. 

The satellite measuring 1U, or one unit, (about four inches cubed), will test out Perovskite cells, a new type of solar cell designed to enhance power production with and without direct exposure to sunlight. The team will compare the power production to that of typical cells, called gallium arsenide solar cells, also flying on the CubeSat. 

Detecting Gamma Ray Bursts 

BurstCube is a NASA-developed 6U CubeSat designed to search the sky for brief flashes of high-energy light such as gamma-ray bursts, solar flares, and other hard X-ray transients. 

Long and short gamma ray bursts are stellar remnants that can be the result of some of the universe’s most powerful explosions like the collapse or collision of massive stars, or when a neutron star collides with a black hole. BurstCube will use a new kind of compact, low-power silicon photomultiplier array to detect the elusive bursts of light. 

With the ability to detect these brief flashes from space, BurstCube can help alert other observatories to witness changes in the universe as they happen. Astronomers can also benefit from the information because these bursts are important sources for gravitational wave discoveries. 

Rooting Out Earth Water Sources from Space 

The SigNals of Opportunity P-band Investigation, or SNoOPI, is a technology demonstration CubeSat designed to improve the detection of moisture levels on a global scale of underground root-zone and within snowpacks. 

Root zone soil moisture and snow water equivalent play critical roles in the hydrologic cycle, impacting agricultural food production, water management, and weather phenomena. When scientists understand the amount of water in the soil, crop growth can be accurately forecasted, and irrigation can become more efficient. 

The 6U CubeSat is collaboratively developed by NASA, Purdue University in Indiana, Mississippi State University, and the United States Department of Agriculture.  

The fourth in the suite of small satellites, the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s HyTI (Hyperspectral Thermal Imager) is also a 6U CubeSat designed to study water sources. 

Developed in partnership with NASA to map irrigated and rainfed cropland, HyTI is a pathfinder demonstration that packs the Hyperspectral Imager Instrument, temporal resolution thermal infrared imager focal plane technology, and high-performance onboard computing to help better understand crop water use and water productivity of major world crops. 

With these tools, HyTI can help develop a more detailed understanding of the movement, distribution, and availability of water and its variability over time and space, an important contribution to global food and water security issues.  

These payloads were selected through NASA’s CSLI, which provides U.S. educational institutions, nonprofits with an education/outreach component, informal educational institutions (museums and science centers), and NASA centers with access to space at a low cost. 

Once the CubeSat selections are made, NASA’s Launch Services Program works to pair them with a launch that is best suited to carry them as auxiliary payloads. 

For more information about NASA’s CSLI, visit: 

https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/heo/home/CubeSats_initiative 

What’s On Board NASA’s Next CubeSat Launch Initiative Mission?

Two students from the Missouri University of Science and Technology research team work on the CubeSat called M3, short for Multi-Mode Mission. The team submitted their project to NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative for a launch into space.
Two students from the Missouri University of Science and Technology research team work on the Multi-Mode Mission CubeSat. The team submitted their project to NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative for a launch into space. Photo credit: Missouri University of Science and Technology

NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative is sending a small satellite to orbit intended to demonstrate a multi-mode-capable thruster that can operate with both chemical and electrical modes potentially saving mass and reducing costs for larger missions.

The Multi-Mode Mission, or M³, developed by Missouri University of Science and Technology’s Satellite research team, is a CubeSat intended to demonstrate a new way to reposition spacecraft in flight. Payloads and spacecraft need the ability to modify the path of an ongoing mission quickly and easily – for example, to avoid another object. This could be accomplished with separate chemical and electric systems, but a multi-mode propulsion system would require less mass and volume while reducing costs.

M³ will use ionic propellant, which is low in cost and readily available. The thruster on the CubeSat contains a student-developed power processing unit and feed system, that uses the ionic propellant in both modes instead of one. Once M³ is in orbit and the propellant reaches the desired temperature, the flight computer will command the propellant feed system solenoid valves to open and the power processing unit to supply power to the payload, beginning an electrospray burn.

The M³ team started work in 2016 and managed several hurdles, including transitioning work to future classmates and the 2020 coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

“The team traveled to Indianapolis to complete vibration testing and, as it turned out, we had to travel there twice,” said Emily Doddemeade, a senior in aerospace engineering from Highlands Ranch, Colorado, and the mission’s project manager. “One of the motherboards was faulty and we were informed that M³ needed to be tested with at least three accelerometers instead of the single one we originally used.”

After the second and successful vibration test, the M³ team managed to hand over their CubeSat for launch thanks in part to alums who could still help.

M³ will launch as part of SpaceX’s Transporter-10 Rideshare mission, targeted to lift off at 2:05 p.m. PST (5:05 p.m. EST) Monday, March 4, 2024, from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The CubeSat will begin transmitting seven days after ejection from the deployer, and the mission ends when the batteries discharge and M³ can no longer transmit data.

NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative provides U.S. educational institutions, nonprofits with an education/outreach component, informal educational institutions (museums and science centers), and agency centers with access to space at a low cost.

NASA’s Starling CubeSats Succeed in Early Space Navigation Test

NASA’s Starling mission accomplished a significant objective for the StarFOX (Starling Formation-Flying Optical Experiment) experiment, a test of autonomous navigation, co-location, and situational awareness in space.

Using downlinked images from onboard “star tracker” sensors, the team used ground-based software to demonstrate StarFOX’s ability to autonomously differentiate the background field of stars and other orbiting spacecraft from fellow members of the Starling swarm.

The spacecraft captured one photo every minute, and despite inconsistencies in illumination and minimal relative motion, the software was able to use the angular positions of the other Starling satellites within those images to estimate their orbits accurately with respect to GPS measurements captured during the test.

The next step is to demonstrate this software in orbit with similar results, autonomously correcting orbit predictions over time as each photo provides more data about the trajectory of spacecraft in the swarm.

StarFOX is being led by the Stanford University’s Space Rendezvous Laboratory.

To stay updated on the Starling mission, follow this blog, and stay connected on social media:

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 Starling is funded by NASA’s Small Spacecraft Technology program based at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley and within the agency’s Space Technology Mission Directorate in Washington.

 

NASA’s Starling CubeSats Begin Swarm Experiment Operations

NASA’s four Starling spacecraft, Blinky, Pinky, Inky, and Clyde, have successfully completed commissioning and are now in swarm experiment configuration. The spacecraft have successfully completed several mission activities working to advance satellite swarm technologies.

Payload commissioning was delayed due to several anomalies the team needed to investigate, including a larger volume of GPS satellite data than expected in the spacecraft to payload interface. Software updates have resolved most of these issues and the CubeSats are beginning their planned work.

Starling’s mission includes four main capabilities: network communications between the spacecraft, maintaining relative navigation and understanding each satellite’s position, autonomous swarm reconfiguration and maintenance to ensure the swarm can adjust when moving as a group, and distributed science autonomy to prove the ability to adjust experiment activities on their own.

To stay updated on the Starling mission, follow this blog, and stay connected on social media:

Twitter: @NASAAmes@NASA
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Starling is funded by NASA’s Small Spacecraft Technology program based at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley and within the agency’s Space Technology Mission Directorate in Washington.

NASA’s Starling CubeSats Maneuver into Swarm Configuration

NASA’s Starling spacecraft are getting in formation: the mission team has spent the last two months troubleshooting issues and commissioning the four spacecraft, nicknamed Blinky, Pinky, Inky, and Clyde.

Pinky, Inky, and Clyde have successfully completed their propulsion system commissioning and have executed maneuvers to get into their swarm operations configuration, maintaining a range between 50-200 km apart. The three have also successfully demonstrated two-way communications with their crosslink radios in this closer proximity.

After launch, ground operators noticed a propulsion system leak on Blinky which caused the spacecraft to enter a slightly lower orbit. The issue was resolved, but it resulted in the spacecraft moving far in front of the others. To correct this, the other three spacecraft performed maneuvers to catch up to Blinky and the swarm is now reunited. The Starling team continues to test Blinky’s propulsion system while the spacecraft is in swarm position.

Testing and commissioning the spacecraft is an important step in preparing for swarm experiment operations, as well as understanding what challenges future spacecraft swarms might experience. The next mission phase will be focused on development and testing of key swarm technologies.

To stay updated on the Starling mission, follow this blog, and stay connected on social media:

Twitter: @NASAAmes@NASA
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Instagram: @NASAAmes@NASA

Starling is funded by NASA’s Small Spacecraft Technology program based at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley and within the agency’s Space Technology Mission Directorate in Washington.

Communications Achieved for NASA’s Four Starling CubeSats

Mission managers have established command communications with all four of NASA’s Starling CubeSats! The spacecraft are progressing through payload and propulsion tests, the final stage of a pre-operations checklist called commissioning.

The Starling spacecraft – which project team members nicknamed Blinky, Pinky, Inky, and Clyde – are part of an ambitious test to develop self-coordinating robotic swarms for space research and exploration.

Progress so far has been as expected for three of the four spacecraft – Pinky, Inky, and Clyde. An initial communication issue with Blinky was addressed by updating estimates of its orbital position and instructing the satellite to better align its antennas with ground station receivers. Operators have achieved operational two-way communications with all Starling units and are still investigating the root cause of the issue.

In addition, data analysis of Blinky’s onboard attitude control system, which manages the spacecraft’s orientation, showed that it was having to work to counteract a disturbance. Initial troubleshooting suggested this was likely connected to a propulsion system leak, which was subsequently remediated. Operators are working to better understand the issue and how it might impact the mission.

After this final stage of commissioning, the Starling spacecraft will begin a procedure called a “drift arrest maneuver,” adjusting the orbital positions of each craft to bring them into proper alignment to begin testing swarm activities.

Follow this blog for updates and stay connected with the mission on social media:

Twitter: @NASAAmes@NASA
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NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley leads the Starling project. NASA’s Small Spacecraft Technology program, based at Ames and within NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD), funds and manages the Starling mission. Blue Canyon Technologies designed and manufactured the spacecraft buses and is providing mission operations support. Rocket Lab USA, Inc. provides launch and integration services. Partners supporting Starling’s payload experiments include Stanford University’s Space Rendezvous Lab in Stanford, California, Emergent Space Technologies of Laurel, Maryland, CesiumAstro of Austin, Texas, L3Harris Technologies, Inc., of Melbourne, Florida, and NASA Ames – with funding support by NASA’s Game Changing Development program within STMD.

NASA’s Starling Commissioning Begins, Team Works to Bolster Comms

Each of NASA’s four Starling spacecraft stabilized themselves, deployed solar panels, and made initial contact shortly after their July 17 launch. Starling operators report nominal health for all the CubeSats.

The spacecraft are undergoing a series of preparation and testing activities, called commissioning, ahead of their mission to demonstrate autonomous communications, positioning, maneuvering, and decision-making capabilities. Starling’s commissioning phase includes three stages: spacecraft bus commissioning, payload commissioning, and propulsion system commissioning.

Three of Starling’s four CubeSats have completed spacecraft bus commissioning ahead of schedule. As of July 21, the mission team continues working to establish robust two-way communications with the fourth spacecraft so that it can join its fellow CubeSats in the next stage of commissioning. 

Follow Starling updates here and on the NASA Ames homepage, and stay connected with the mission on social media.

Twitter: @NASAAmes@NASA
Facebook: NASA AmesNASA
Instagram: @NASAAmes, @NASA

Starling is funded by NASA’s Small Spacecraft Technology program based at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley and within the agency’s Space Technology Mission Directorate in Washington.

Starling CubeSats Have Deployed

NASA’s four Starling CubeSats are confirmed to have deployed from the Rocket Lab’s Electron kick stage. The spacecraft, which are designed to work together as a “swarm,” have reached low Earth orbit to begin their mission to test technologies for autonomous positioning, networking, maneuvering, and decision-making.

Now, the Starling swarm will power up and attempt initial contact with the ground; a process that may occur overnight or in the next several days.

For updates, follow us on social media:  

Twitter: @NASAAmes@NASA
Facebook: NASA AmesNASA
Instagram: @NASAAmes, @NASA

Starling is funded by NASA’s Small Spacecraft Technology program based at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley and within the agency’s Space Technology Mission Directorate in Washington.

Starling: We Have Liftoff!

NASA’s Starling mission, has lifted off from the launch pad aboard Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket. The four CubeSats are on their way to low Earth orbit to test new autonomous spacecraft swarm technologies.

Rocket Lab is providing a live launch broadcast, available on the company’s website.

Connect with us on social media for ongoing launch updates:

Twitter: @NASAAmes@NASA@RocketLab
Facebook: NASA AmesNASARocketLabUSA
Instagram: @NASAAmes, @NASA, @RocketLabUSA

Starling is funded by NASA’s Small Spacecraft Technology program based at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley and within the agency’s Space Technology Mission Directorate in Washington.

It’s Launch Day for NASA’s Starling Mission!

Welcome to launch day for NASA’s Starling CubeSat mission! A team of four satellites wait atop a Rocket Lab Electron rocket for liftoff from Launch Complex 1 in Māhia, New Zealand. This launch, named Baby Come Back, will send Starling’s cereal box-sized satellites, called CubeSats, to low Earth orbit, where they will test new autonomous spacecraft swarm technologies.

A two-hour launch window opens at 7:30 p.m. EDT (11:30 a.m. Tuesday, July 18, New Zealand Standard Time). Rocket Lab is providing a live launch broadcast, available on the company’s website approximately 20 minutes before launch.

Today’s launch aims to deploy the four Starling CubeSats more than 300 miles above Earth. Following commissioning, the spacecraft will demonstrate maneuver planning, communications networking, relative navigation, and autonomous coordinated science measurements, all with minimal intervention from operators on the ground.

This ambitious test is an important step in advancing self-coordinating robotic swarms for future science and exploration missions to the Moon, Mars, and deep space.  Projects like the upcoming HelioSwarm mission, which will launch nine spacecraft to study the Sun like never before, will benefit from lessons learned from Starling.

Here’s a look at some of today’s upcoming milestones. All times are approximate:

  • -00:02:00 Launch autosequence begins
  • -00:00:02 Rutherford engines ignite
  • 00:00:00 Lift-off
  • 00:01:00 Vehicle Supersonic
  • 00:01:11 Max-Q
  • +00:02:24 Main Engine Cut Off (MECO) on Electron’s first stage
  • +00:02:27 Stage 1 separates from Stage 2
  • +00:02:31 Electron’s Stage 2 Rutherford engine ignites
  • +00:03:03 Fairing separation
  • +00:04:07 Stage 1 apogee
  • +00:07:23 Stage 1 drogue parachute deployment
  • +00:07:38 Stage 1 is subsonic
  • +00:08:13 Stage 1 main parachute deployment
  • +00:08:59 Second Engine Cut Off (SECO) on Stage 2
  • +00:09:09 Stage 2 separation from Kick Stage
  • +00:15:15- +00:17:43- Splashdown predicted to occur between
  • +00:46:27 Kick Stage Curie engine ignition (1)
  • +00:48:39 Curie engine Cut Off (1)
  • +00:49:14 NASA Starling 1 Deploys
  • +00:49:44 NASA Starling 2 Deploys
  • +00:50:14 NASA Starling 3 Deploys
  • +00:50:44 NASA Starling 4 Deploys

Follow launch updates on this blog and stay connected with the mission on social media:

Twitter: @NASAAmes@NASA@RocketLab
Facebook: NASA AmesNASARocketLabUSA
Instagram: @NASAAmes, @NASA, @RocketLabUSA

Ames leads the Starling project. NASA’s Small Spacecraft Technology program, based at Ames and within NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD), funds and manages the Starling mission. Blue Canyon Technologies designed and manufactured the spacecraft buses and is providing mission operations support. Rocket Lab USA, Inc. provides launch and integration services. Partners supporting Starling’s payload experiments include Stanford University’s Space Rendezvous Lab in Stanford, California, Emergent Space Technologies of Laurel, Maryland, CesiumAstro of Austin, Texas, L3Harris Technologies, Inc., of Melbourne, Florida, and Ames – with funding support by NASA’s Game Changing Development program within STMD.