Firefly Aerospace’s inaugural Alpha launch is scheduled to take place on the 2nd of September, carrying Libre Space Foundation’s QUBIK Mission along with several other technical and non-technical payloads from around the world.
Date and Time:
Launching from the Vandenberg Space Force Base, USA, the launch window is
September 03, 2021 – 01:00-05:00 UTC
September 02, 2021 – 18:00-22:00 PDT, local time
and it is subject to change.
About the Firefly Aerospace’s DREAM Payload Program
The Dedicated Research and Education Accelerator Mission (DREAM) provided a unique opportunity to schools, institutions, labs, non-profits and startups to gain access to space. Firefly Aerospace is hosting academic and educational payloads, free of charge, on its inaugural Alpha launch.
About The QUBIK Mission
The QUBIK Mission is made up of two components. The QUBIK-1 and QUBIK-2 small satellites or PocketQubes, measuring 5x5x5cm and the PocketQube dispenser, called PICOBUS. The PICOBUS deployer is the first-ever open-source PocketQube deployer.
The QUBIK PocketQubes are to be short-lived with only ~3 weeks of predicted orbit lifespan. This short timeframe will suffice for a series of amateur radio experiments on Identifying and Tracking satellites early on, upon deployment. The experiments will be conducted with the help of SatNOGS, the world’s biggest open-source network of satellite ground stations. This is a network of 400+ stations in over 50 countries around the world.
About Libre Space Foundation
Libre Space Foundation (LSF) is a non-profit organisation designing and developing open-source, space-related technologies. It was founded in 2015, and ever since it has been focusing on supporting knowledge, scientific research and working towards making space accessible to everyone interested. True to our vision “for an Open and Accessible Outer Space for all”, the projects that LSF supports and maintains are open- source and available to everyone. Libre Space Foundation maintains great collaborations with Space agencies, University Institutions, Space Organisations, Libraries and Companies that help make space open to all humanity.
