[amsat-bb] NASA Announces Fourth Round of CubeSat Space Mission Candidates

[Vince Fiscus, KB7ADL]

RELEASE: 13-064

NASA ANNOUNCES FOURTH ROUND OF CUBESAT SPACE MISSION CANDIDATES

WASHINGTON -- NASA has selected 24 small satellites to fly as
auxiliary payloads aboard rockets planned to launch in 2014, 2015 and
2016. The proposed CubeSats come from universities across the
country, a Florida high school, several non-profit organizations and
NASA field centers.

CubeSats belong to a class of research spacecraft called
nanosatellites. The cube-shaped satellites measure about 4 inches on
each side, have a volume of about 1 quart, and weigh less than 3
pounds.

The selections are from the fourth round of the CubeSat Launch
Initiative. After launch, the satellites will conduct technology
demonstrations, educational research or science missions. The
selected CubeSats will be eligible for flight after final
negotiations and an opportunity for flight becomes available.

The following organizations submitted winning satellite proposals:

-- The Aerospace Corporation, El Segundo, Calif.
-- The Discovery Museum and Planetarium, Bridgeport, Conn.
-- Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Prescott, Ariz.
-- Morehead State University, Morehead, Ky., in partnership with the
University of California at Berkeley
-- Montana State University, Bozeman (2 CubeSats) in partnership with
The University of New Hampshire, Durham
-- Merritt Island High School, Florida, in partnership with California
Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
-- NASA's Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.
-- NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. (3 CubeSats)
-- NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., in partnership
with the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena (3 CubeSats)
-- NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Florida
-- Pennsylvania State University, in partnership with the Naval
Research Laboratory, Monterey, Calif., and the Aerospace Corporation,
El Segundo, Calif.
-- Saint Louis University, St. Louis
-- Tyvak Nano-Satellites Systems, Irvine, Calif., in partnership with
the California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
-- University at Buffalo, The State University of New York
-- University of Colorado, Boulder
-- University of Florida, Gainesville, in partnership with Stanford
University
-- University of Maryland, Baltimore County
-- University of Texas, Austin
-- Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tenn., in partnership with the
Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation, Silver Spring, Md.

In the three previous rounds of the CubeSat initiative, NASA has
selected 63 missions for flight. The agency's Launch Services Program
Educational Launch of Nanosatellite (ELaNa) Program has launched 12
CubeSat missions. This year, 22 CubeSat missions are scheduled for
flight.

For additional information on NASA's CubeSat Launch Initiative
program, visit:

http://go.nasa.gov/nXOuPI

For information about NASA and agency programs, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov