A setback for KickSat

An illustration of the KickSat spacecraft deploying its payload of Sprite satellites, only 3.5 centimeters on a side. A problem with the KickSat’s master time may mean the satellite reenters before it can deploy those Sprites. (credit: KickSat)

Among the secondary payloads placed into orbit on last month’s Falcon 9 launch was a CubeSat […]

Can CubeSats do quality science? For one group, yes

While interest in CubeSats—spacecraft as small as ten centimeters on a side and weighing one kilogram—has grown in recent years, one challenge facing the community of CubeSat developers is whether such spacecraft can perform useful missions, beyond education (many satellites are built by student groups) and technology development and demonstration. For one group at the […]