ELaNa – Small Satellite Missions

Rocket Lab’s Electron Rocket Go for Launch!

Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket called “Ready, Aim, PREFIRE” is on the launch pad on May 25, 2024, with the first CubeSat ready to lift off from the company’s facility in Mahia, New Zealand.

The second of two launches of NASA’s PREFIRE mission is just minutes away!

The mission team has called out “go for launch” for Rocket Lab’s PREFIRE and Ice launch and should lift off in about five minutes. The CubeSat – about the size of a bread loaf – is set to launch aboard an Electron rocket, from Launch Complex 1 at Māhia, New Zealand.

The Electron is a vertically launched, two-stage rocket around 60 feet (18 meters) tall, with an exterior made of a carbon fiber composite, that can carry payloads weighing up to about 700 pounds (320 kilograms). Each Electron rocket uses nine Rutherford sea-level engines on its first stage, a single Rutherford vacuum engine on its second stage, and uses liquid oxygen and kerosene as propellants. The Rutherford engine is the world’s first 3D-printed, electric-pump-fed rocket engine.

The kick stage is a third stage of the Electron rocket used to circularize and raise orbits to deploy payloads to unique and precise orbital destinations, powered by Rocket Lab’s Curie engine.

Previous NASA missions that launched on an Electron rocket include NASA’s Advanced Composite Solar Sail System, TROPICS (Time-Resolved Observations of Precipitation structure and storm Intensity with a Constellation of Smallsats), CAPSTONE (Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment), and multiple ELaNA (Educational Launch of Nanosatellites) missions.

Some of the launch team members are located within Rocket Lab’s private range control facilities at Launch Complex 1on the North Island of New Zealand. From the launch site it is possible to reach orbital inclinations from sun-synchronous through to 30 degrees, enabling versatility for missions to low Earth orbit. NASA’s Launch Services Program team and spacecraft customer team will be on console at Rocket Lab Headquarters in Long Beach, California.

Rocket Lab’s Electron Rocket Go for Launch!

Rocket Lab’s “Ready, Aim, PREFIRE” – the first of two launches of NASA’s PREFIRE mission – is just minutes away from launch. After holding at T-12 for several minutes the countdown has resumed.

The CubeSat is set to launch from Launch Complex 1 at Māhia, New Zealand, aboard the company’s Electron rocket, which is a reusable, vertically launched, two-stage rocket that uses liquid oxygen and kerosene as propellants. Propellant loading has begun, and the mission team has called out “go for launch.” The rocket should launch in about five minutes.

Each Electron rocket is around 60 feet (18 meters) tall, with an exterior made of a carbon fiber composite, and can carry payloads weighing up to about 700 pounds (320 kilograms). Each Electron rocket uses nine Rutherford sea-level engines on its first stage, and a single Rutherford vacuum engine on its second stage. These 3D-printed engines use an electric turbopump powered by batteries to deliver propellants and fuel to the engines. A payload fairing protects the spacecraft or satellite as the rocket climbs through the atmosphere. An extra stage, called a kick stage, powered by a single Curie engine, will circularize the orbits of the PREFIRE CubeSats.

Previous NASA missions that launched on an Electron rocket include NASA’s Advanced Composite Solar Sail System, TROPICS (Time-Resolved Observations of Precipitation structure and storm Intensity with a Constellation of Smallsats), Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE), and multiple Educational Launch of Nanosatellites (ELaNa) missions.

Some of the launch team members are located within Rocket Lab’s private range control facilities at Launch Complex 1, located on the North Island of New Zealand. From the launch site it is possible to reach orbital inclinations from sun-synchronous through to 30 degrees, enabling versatility for missions to low Earth orbit. The bulk of the Electron operators, as well as NASA’s Launch Services Program team and spacecraft customer team will be on console at the Auckland Production Complex.

NASA to Launch Small Satellites on Next SpaceX Cargo Mission

Middle schoolers are sending their science fair project to space, one of five CubeSats on a ride-share on a Commercial Resupply Services, CRS-25. The CapSat-1 team are three 7th-grade students from the Weiss School in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. — Middle schoolers are sending their science fair project to space, one of five CubeSats on a ride-share on the 25th Commercial Resupply Services, CRS-25. The CapSat-1 team are three 7th-grade students from the Weiss School in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. Photo credit: Weiss School

NASA’s Launch Services Program is preparing to send five CubeSats to the International Space Station as part of the ELaNa 45 (Educational Launch of Nanosatellites) mission aboard SpaceX’s 25th Commercial Resupply Services (CRS-25) mission for NASA. Liftoff is scheduled for June 7 from Launch Complex 39A at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The small satellites were selected through NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative, which provides low-cost access to space for U.S. educational institutions, NASA centers, and others to develop and demonstrate novel technologies in space and to inspire and grow the next generation of scientists, engineers, and technologists.

The CubeSats were developed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; The Weiss School in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida; NASA’s Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley, California; Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida; and the University of South Alabama in Mobile. The CubeSats will be deployed from the space station.

NASA has selected over 200 CubeSat missions from more than 100 unique organizations representing 42 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico through the CubeSat Launch Initiative since 2010. To date, 134 CubeSat missions have launched into space through ELaNa rideshare opportunities.