CubeSat

Tests of the upper stage engine resulted in burn-through and streaks of hot molten metal streaming out from the nozzle. Photo: AstraLast summer, Astra’s Rocket 3.3 came crashing down after failing to reach orbit and deliver a pair of shoe-box sized satellites. Following a six-month investigation, the California-based startup identified the culprit: fuel injector blockage that resulted in combustion chamber burn-through.Astra announced the conclusions from the investigation on Wednesday after receiving a formal closure…

The OrbAstro ORB-50 satellite platform will host a variety of instruments needed to evaluate the target asteroid from a distance. Illustration: Intuitive MachinesAstroForge has announced an ambitious commercial mission to observe a distant asteroid—an important step for the California startup as it strives to become the world’s first deep space mining company.AstroForge seeks to capitalize on the rapidly evolving state of the spaceflight industry and become the first firm to mine for metals in deep space. The California…

Cosmic Girl taking off from Spaceport Cornwall at Cornwall Airport, Newquay.Photo: Ben Birchall (AP)Britain’s first orbital launch ended in a disappointing failure after Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne rocket suffered an anomaly, destroying the seven payloads on board. The company’s modified Boeing aircraft, named Cosmic Girl, took off on Monday at 5:02 p.m. ET from Spaceport Cornwall, carrying the LauncherOne booster rocket tucked beneath its left wing.The mission was off to a good start as Cosmic Girl released the rocket…

An illustration of LunaH-Map in orbit around the Moon.Illustration: Arizona State UniversityA mission to measure lunar water-ice on the Moon is in jeopardy after the cubesat failed to fire its engines shortly after launch. Time is now running out, as the team has until mid-January to fix the spacecraft’s thrusters and give it a second chance to enter lunar orbit.NASA’s LunaH-Map, manufactured by Arizona State University, was one of 10 cubesats launched on November 16, 2022 as secondary payloads aboard the Artemis 1…

Japan has given up on trying to become the fourth country to reach the moon. The nation sent its Omotenashi CubeSat into orbit aboard NASA’s SLS rocket last week when it launched the Orion spacecraft toward the moon in the Artemis I mission. But after separating from the SLS rocket, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) was unable to establish communication with the Omotenashi, preventing the CubeSat from attempting a lunar landing. Mission leader Tatsuaki Hashimoto described the failure as “deeply…

CAPSTONE over the lunar North Pole. Image: Illustration by NASA/Daniel RutterAs NASA gears up for the Artemis I launch on Wednesday morning, a small cube satellite has reached its intended orbit at the Moon, playing a small but important role in the return to the Moon.NASA's Artemis 1 mission management team on Sunday gave the all clear for the giant Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft to proceed with the next launch attempt on Wednesday, November 16. NASA has a two-hour launch window at 1:04 AM EST…

Animated image showing CAPSTONE’s highly elliptical NRHO around the Moon. Gif: Advanced SpaceNASA’s Artemis program took an important step forward thisweekend, with CAPSTONE finally reaching its destination—a near-rectilinear halo orbit (NRHO) around the Moon. The 55-pound cubesat will now test this promising orbit in preparation for the Gateway lunar space station.CAPSTONE, short for Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment, reached NRHO on Sunday, November 13, according to…

JuRa has a footprint of about 4 inches (10 centimeters) and is the first radar to probe the interior of an asteroid, per ESA.Image: JuRA Team/UGAIn the aftermath of the astounding plan to move a harmless asteroid with NASA’s DART mission, further science is needed to determine exactly what kind of impact humanity had on the distant Dimorphos. ESA’s Hera mission aims to do just that with its launch in two years, and it will be bringing along a scrappy sidekick in the form of a tiny radar.The European Space Agency is…

The Alpha rocket reached orbit shortly after launch earlier this month.Image: Firefly AerospacePrivate aerospace company Firefly declared its “To the Black” mission a success with the inaugural launch of its Alpha rocket despite the majority of the rocket’s payload having reentered through the atmosphere. Firefly’s small satellite rocket took off on October 1 at 3:01 a.m. ET from Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Two days later, the company announced “100% mission success” on Twitter…

Artist’s conception of a cubesat ad showing the Olympic rings. Image: Shamil Biktimirov/SkoltechA feasibility study suggests millions of dollars can be made by using fleets of bright cubesats to form advertisements high above Earth. It’s a clearly terrible idea, as it would tarnish our already-threatened views of the night sky. The purpose of the new paper, published in Aerospace, was to evaluate the “economic feasibility of a space advertising mission that would launch a formation of satellites into orbit to reflect…