Space Station Opens Launch Pad for Tiny Satelliteshttp://www.space.com/18098-space-station-launches-tiny-satellites.htmlTechEdSat QuoteOnly one major objective will be unmet. Initially the satellite was supposed to compare OrbComm and Iridium communications techniques in space, but there was not enough time to meet the licensing requirements before the launch date.
Only one major objective will be unmet. Initially the satellite was supposed to compare OrbComm and Iridium communications techniques in space, but there was not enough time to meet the licensing requirements before the launch date.
"Of the other four satellites released Oct. 4, one of them, F-1, was a collaboration of Houston-based space hardware developer NanoRacks, Uppsala University in Sweden and FPT University in Vietnam."
Quote from: Danderman on 10/18/2012 03:07 pm"Of the other four satellites released Oct. 4, one of them, F-1, was a collaboration of Houston-based space hardware developer NanoRacks, Uppsala University in Sweden and FPT University in Vietnam."
Thank you, this is just our first small step in a long journey ahead.Wrt the launch with Interorbital, they told me that it'll be in 2013. While I hate these launch slips, on the bright side they give us time to learn from F-1 project and better prepare for the next CubeSat launch.
A case in point is Spinsat, which is set for “soft stowage” launch in the pressurized portion of the SpaceX Dragon headed to the International Space Station (ISS) next April. A station crewmember will carry the 22-in. sphere, essentially packed in a fabric bag, from the Dragon into the station and leave it there until its scheduled deployment through the Japanese module's airlock. NASA safety experts approved the mission because the satellite's 12 thruster-clusters burn an inert solid fuel called Hipep, and only when an electric charge is passed across it.In space, the Naval Research Laboratory satellite will demonstrate the DSSP thruster technology in a series of maneuvers, and also serve as a reflector for ground-based laser ranging to study atmospheric drag. It is one of two very different spacecraft that will be passed through the Japanese airlock and released from the end of one of the station's robotic arms to test a new NASA deployer known as Cyclops.Engineers at Johnson Space Center designed Cyclops to handle as many different spacecraft shapes as possible, grappling them with a special fixture, squeezing through the airlock tunnel and attaching to the end of the Canadian or Japanese-built arms to release them down and away from the back of the station to avoid recontact. In addition to the U.S. Navy's Spinsat, the Cyclops test in April will deploy a rectangular satellite—Lonestar-2—built by Texas college students.
Weir, isn't Hipep an ion engine running Xenon?