NASA Starts Next CubeSat Launch Initiative Round

PhoneSat 2.5, developed at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif. and launched in March 2014, uses commercially available smartphone technology to collect data on the long-term performance of consumer technologies used in spacecraft. Photo: NASA

[Via Satellite 08-13-2015] NASA has initiated the next round of its CubeSat Launch Initiative, which provides access to space for CubeSats developed by NASA centers, accredited educational institutions, and non-profit organizations on agency rocket launches or International Space Station (ISS) missions. Selected experiments will fly as auxiliary payloads on NASA rocket launches or be deployed from the ISS beginning in 2016 and running through 2019.

Applicants must submit their proposals electronically to NASA by Nov. 24, and NASA plans to select the payloads by Feb. 19, 2016. The agency said in a statement that selection does not guarantee a launch opportunity and that the agency does not provide funding for the development of the satellites.

To date, NASA has selected 105 CubeSats from 30 states. Thirty-seven CubeSats have launched, and 16 more are scheduled to go into space in the next 12 months.

NASA desires to launch a small satellite from at least one participant in every state within the United States over the next five years. For this round, the agency is focusing on gaining participation in the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and 20 states not previously selected for the CubeSat Launch Initiative. These states are: Arkansas, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota, Washington, and Wyoming.