Spire to add ThrustMe propulsion to Lemur cubesats

Spire Global is adding propulsion to its multipurpose Lemur satellite constellation.

Cubesats to hitch rides on Artemis 1

The first flight of the Space Launch System will carry along with the Orion spacecraft 10 cubesats intended to carry out missions from prospecting for lunar ice to flying by an asteroid — if they’re not dead on arrival.

Team Miles prepares for inflight test of new thruster technology

Team Miles founder Wesley Faler has spent more than a decade developing and refining the water-fueled plasma thrusters set to fly for the first time on a cubesat launching alongside the NASA Artemis-1 mission.

Blue Canyon Technologies to build Tomorrow.io microwave satellites

Blue Canyon Technologies won its largest constellation order to date, a contract with weather technology company Tomorrow.io. 

Astra ready for first of three NASA TROPICS launches

Astra Space is preparing to conduct the first of three launches of NASA cubesats to monitor tropical storms as soon as June 12, pending receipt of a launch license.

Astra finalizes plans for first Florida launch

Astra Space will launch four NASA-sponsored cubesats on its Rocket 3.3 vehicle as soon as Feb. 5 on a mission that will be the first to use a streamlined set of commercial launch regulations.

Xplore to fly sensors on OrbAstro nanosatellites

Xplore announced a contract Jan. 25 to purchase Orbital Astronautics Ltd. satellites for a variety of Earth-observation and astronomical missions.

Kleos reveals results of RF reconnaissance demonstration

Kleos Space presented a technical paper at the GEOINT 2021 Symposium that highlighted better-than-expected performance of RF reconnaissance satellites.

Orbital Micro Systems and Thomas Keating forge weather data pact

ST. LOUIS – Orbital Micro Systems announced an agreement Oct. 5 with UK technology firm Thomas Keating Ltd. to jointly fund design, development and testing of millimeter-wave instruments for commercial weather satellites.

OMS launched the…

Thinking outside the box: Aerospace Corp.’s thin DiskSats

The Aerospace Corp., an early adopter of the cubesat standard, is proposing a new shape for small satellites: a thin, round plate.

Exponential growth of cubesats may be tapering off

The use of cubesats has grown dramatically in recent years, but some are wondering if the form factor has reached the limits of its usefulness.

Lunar cubesats head to the launch pad

The first cubesats designed to study the moon are scheduled to launch late this year, with more in development in the next few years.

D-Orbit unveils third mission for ION Satellite Carrier

D-Orbit plans to transport satellites into six distinct orbits and to host three satellites on the third mission of the Italian firm’s In-Orbit Now (ION) Satellite Carrier.

On National Security | Army not being shy about its need for satellites

A turf battle is brewing in the Pentagon over the possibility that the Army may want to buy its own satellites. The Army is now stepping into Space Force territory with a new effort to invest in what it calls a “tactical space layer.”

University of Illinois taps Blue Canyon for scientific cubesat mission

The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign awarded a contract to Blue Canyon Technologies to provide cubesats for a space mission sponsored by the National Science Foundation. The value of the award was not disclosed.

SpaceX bid on launch of NASA cubesat mission

A NASA competition to launch a cluster of cubesats attracted a bid from SpaceX, who appeared to offer a vehicle other than its current Falcon 9 or Falcon Heavy.

Toast-shaped ThinSats attract educational and government customers

ThinSats, the toast-shaped miniature satellites designed primarily as teaching tools, have attracted Small Business Innovation Research funding from NASA and the U.S. Space Force.

NASA Astrophysics Division embraces cubesats and smallsats

SAN FRANCISCO – Early next year, NASA plans to select a maximum of three Astrophysics Pioneers missions, investigations with a maximum price tag of $20 million, Michel Garcia, NASA Astrophysics Division smallsats lead program scientist, said at …

Aerospace Corp. seeks to license laser communications

The Aerospace Corp. is working to license commercially a laser communications subsystem that downlinked data at a rate of 200 megabits per second from three-unit cubesats.

German cubesats to showcase formation flight technology

The four-satellite NetSat mission launched Sept. 28 on a Russian Soyuz rocket is designed to showcase technology for formation flight.