1400+ PAYLOADS LAUNCHED TO-DATE
HOUSTON, TEXAS – JUNE 14, 2021 – Nanoracks successfully completed the 20th CubeSat deployment mission from the Company’s commercially developed platform on the International Space Station (ISS). Having released two CubeSats into low-Earth orbit, this mission marks Nanoracks’ 262nd CubeSat released from the ISS, and the 285th small satellite deployed by Nanoracks overall.
The CubeSats deployed were launched to the ISS as pressurized cargo on the SpaceX CRS-22 mission from Cape Canaveral, Florida earlier this month. The Nanoracks CubeSat Deployer (NRCSD) offered an affordable launch opportunity, flexible payload manifesting, comprehensive meetings with NASA, and on-orbit operations management that met all our customers’ needs.
“As we celebrate our 20th CubeSat deployment mission from the ISS, I am both grateful and proud of the commercial space platform our team at Nanoracks has built,” says Satellite Program Manager, Tristan Prejean. “We also share this important milestone with two customers who embody Nanoracks’ goals of educating future space enthusiasts and improving research methods in microgravity. Our company works hard every day to define a path to the stars for everyone around the globe, and this mission has once again shown that those dreams can become reality.”
The two satellites deployed from this mission, RamSat and SOAR, each have strong educational and research-based goals.
RamSat, a 2U CubeSat, was built by students from Robertsville Middle School in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The satellite will use multispectral and near-infrared cameras to examine the impacts of large-scale disturbances (e.g., forest fires) on forests. RamSat was selected for launch by NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative (CSLI) as part of the Educational Launch of Nanosatellites-36 (ELaNa-36) mission complement, sponsored by the NASA Launch Services Program (LSP).
Additionally, the Satellite for Orbital Aerodynamics Research (SOAR) is a 3U CubeSat that will study the residual atmosphere and associated gas-surface interactions in very low earth orbits (VLEO). Led by the University of Manchester as a part of the DISCOVERER Project, the primary aim of the SOAR mission is to test and characterize new materials that can reduce the experienced drag and increase aerodynamic performance in low altitude orbits. The satellite will also perform characterization of the atmospheric flow and demonstrate novel aerodynamic attitude control maneuvers.
Final Deployment Times
Deployment 1/ RamSat, SOAR / 5:05 UTC. Watch the deployment video on YouTube.
For additional updates, follow @Nanoracks on Twitter.
About Nanoracks
Nanoracks LLC, an XO Markets company, is the world’s leading provider of commercial space services. XO Market is a member of the Voyager Space Holding Inc. family. XO Markets, is majority owned by Voyager Space Holdings Inc. and includes Nanoracks LLC, Nanoracks UAE, DreamUP and Nanoracks Europe.
Nanoracks believes commercial space utilization will enable innovation through in-space manufacturing of pharmaceuticals, fiber optics, and more, will allow for revolutionary Earth observation, and will make space a key player in finding the solution to Earth’s problems.
Today, the company offers low-cost, high-quality solutions to the most pressing needs for satellite deployment, basic and educational research, and more – in over 30 nations worldwide. Nanoracks’ future goals are focused on the re-purposing of the upper stages of launch vehicles in-space and converting these structures into commercial habitats, both humanly and robotically tended, throughout the solar system. Nanoracks has recently joined the Voyager Space Holdings family of companies.