NASA and Firefly Aerospace are targeting no earlier than Wednesday, June 26, for the launch of eight CubeSats as part of NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative’s (CSLI) ELaNa (Educational Launch of Nanosatellites) 43. The 30-minute launch window will open at 9 p.m. PDT on June 26 (12 a.m. EDT on June 27).
Firefly Aerospace’s “Noise of Summer” will launch on an Alpha rocket from Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
The CubeSats flying on ELaNa 43 are:
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- CatSat – University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona
- KUbe-Sat-1 – University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas
- MESAT1 – University of Maine, Orono, Maine
- R5-S4 – NASA’s Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas
- R5-S2-2.0 – NASA’s Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas
- SOC-i – University of Washington, Seattle, Washington
- TechEdSat-11 – NASA Ames Research Center
- Serenity – Teachers in Space
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Firefly Aerospace is one of three companies selected under NASA’s Launch Services Program Venture-Class Launch Services Demonstration 2 (VCLS Demo 2) contract awarded in December 2020. The venture-class contracts illustrate how NASA offers opportunities for new launch providers to grow the commercial industry at all levels, which will result in cost-effective competition for NASA missions in the future.
Follow NASA’s Small Satellite blog for launch updates.