Educational Launch of Nanosatellites
Educational Launch of Nanosatellites (ELaNa ) is an initiative created by NASA to attract and retain students in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines.[ 1] The program is managed by the Launch Services Program (LSP) at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Overview
Engineers processing a CubeSat at a facility of Rocket Lab .
The ELaNa initiative has made partnerships with universities in the US to design and launch small research satellites called CubeSats (because of their cube shape). These low-cost CubeSat missions provide NASA with valuable opportunities to test emerging technologies that may be useful in future space missions, while university students get to be involved in all phases of the mission, from instrument and satellite design, to launch and monitoring.
A CubeSat has a cubic shape measuring 10 × 10 × 10 cm (1 unit or 1U), and can be fabricated of multiple cubic units such as 2U, 3U and 6U, and weighing 1.33 kg per unit. Because of the high cost incurred by launching them to orbit, ELaNa's satellites are launched as secondary payload on other missions that have mass and space to spare. Since the launch waiting list has grown considerably, another initiative was launched in 2015 in partnership with the private industry to develop launch vehicles dedicated to CubeSats exclusively. A new company is called Rocket Lab and their launch vehicle is the Electron rocket .[ 2] This agreement with NASA, enables the company to use NASA resources such as personnel, facilities and equipment for commercial launch efforts.[ 2] [ 3] In 2015, NASA contracted two other companies for this purpose: Firefly Space Systems and Virgin Galactic .[ 4] Nevertheless, NASA CubeSats will continue to hitch rides as secondary payloads in larger rockets whenever possible.
As of August 2017, NASA's ELaNa initiative has selected 151 CubeSat missions, 49 of which have been launched into space.[ 5]
Missions
This article needs to be updated . Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (July 2024 )
ELaNa mission numbers are based on the order they are manifested; due to the nature of launching, the actual launch order differs from the mission numbers.
Launched missions
Future missions
List of future missions:[ 58] [ 59] [ 60]
Launch date (UTC)
Mission name
No. of CubeSats
Main mission and CubeSats included
Launch vehicle
Launch site
TBA
ELaNa 56
1
(?) ARCSTONE
TBA
TBA
TBA
ELaNa 53a
1
(?) Dione
TBA
TBA
April 2025
ELaNa 53b
1
(TRACERS ) SPRITE
Falcon 9
TBA
TBA
ELaNa 61
2
(Transporter-13) TRYAD-1, TRYAD-2
Falcon 9
TBA
TBA
ELaNa 64
1
(Transporter-13) REAL
Falcon 9
TBA
TBA
ELaNa 42
6
(?) AEPEX, DARLA, OrCa2, R5-S3, R5-S5, TechEdSat-16
TBA
TBA
TBA
ELaNa 46
1
(?) TechEdSat-12
TBA
TBA
TBA
ELaNa 55
2
(?) CANVAS, INCA-2
TBA
TBA
TBA
ELaNa 54
2
(?) TechEdSat-22, VISORS
TBA
TBA
TBA
ELaNa 58
4
(?) BLAST, EagleSat-2, QubeSat-2, RHOK-SAT
TBA
TBA
TBA
ELaNa 59
3
(?) OpenOrbiter 1, R5-S6, SWARM-EX
TBA
TBA
References
^ ELaNa: Educational Launch of Nanosatellites Archived 1 June 2023 at the Wayback Machine NASA, 2017 This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
^ a b Rocket Lab Signs NASA Partnership to Tap Launch Resources Caleb Henry 31 July 2015.
^ Rocket Lab poised to provide dedicated launcher for CubeSat science Adam Mann, Science Magazine 6 December 2017
^ Kathryn Hambleton; George H. Diller (14 October 2015). "NASA Awards Venture Class Launch Services Contracts for CubeSat Satellites" . NASA. Retrieved 30 October 2015 . This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
^ NASA's CubeSat Launch Initiative Broadens Access to Space for Educators, Nonprofits Archived 11 December 2022 at the Wayback Machine , NASA, 3 August 2017 This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
^ "CubeSat ELaNa Launch on Glory Mission" (PDF) . nasa.gov . Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 February 2017. Retrieved 27 January 2018 . This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
^ ELaNa-I NASA, This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
^ "Factsheet" (PDF) . nasa.gov . This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
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^ "Factsheet" (PDF) . nasa.gov . This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
^ "All ORS-3 payloads" (PDF) . Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 December 2014. Retrieved 27 January 2018 .
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^ "ORS-3 Mission Fact Sheet" (PDF) . Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 December 2014. Retrieved 27 January 2018 .
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^ ELaNa 10 CubeSat Launch on SMAP Mission , NASA January 2015 This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
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^ "Factsheet" (PDF) . nasa.gov . This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
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^ "ORS-4" (PDF) . Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 December 2014. Retrieved 27 January 2018 .
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^ Mahoney, Erin (1 December 2015). "NASA ELaNa IX Mission Launches First CubeSat Built By Elementary School Students" . CubeSat Launch Initiative . NASA. Archived from the original on 6 November 2016. Retrieved 23 January 2017 . This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
^ "Factsheet" (PDF) . nasa.gov . Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 June 2017. Retrieved 27 January 2018 . This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
^ ELaNa XVII International Space Station CubeSat Deployment Archived 1 June 2017 at the Wayback Machine , NASA March 2017 This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
^ SpaceX Falcon 9 launches CRS-12 Dragon mission to the ISS , William Graham, NASA Spaceflight , 14 August 2017
^ a b c Past ElaNa CubeSat Launches , NASA This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
^ Clark, Stephen (19 July 2018). "Launch schedule" . SpaceFlight Now. Retrieved 20 July 2018 .
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External links