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NASA Atlas V Rocket Takes Adelaide-built CubeSat Miniaturized Satellite into Space

An Adelaide-built CubeSat miniaturized satellite is on its way to International Space Station (ISS). On Wednesday morning, the satellite was blasted into space on board a NASA Atlas V rocket that is scheduled to reach ISS on Saturday.

The CubeSat satellite has been built by a team of 50 students and staff from the University of Adelaide. It is about the size of a “loaf of bread”. It features several sensors to help study the particles of in the thermosphere.  The satellite will be deployed within a month and will join a network of 50 similar satellites from around the world planned to be deployed into the thermosphere.

The primary aim of this satellite is to take measurements in thermosphere (the layer of atmosphere between 95 and 500 kilometers from the earth) and to provide a better understanding of the thermosphere’s relationship to other levels of the atmosphere. It will also allow scientists better understand how thermosphere affects re-entry of large spacecraft into Earth’s atmosphere.

The satellite will be controlled and operated by the University of South Australia’s Institute for Telecommunications ground station at Mawson Lakes, and will collect data three times a day.

“The launch of a South Australian-made satellite is a remarkable achievement which will provide information that will be used by climate researchers around the world,” the state’s Science Minister Kyam Maher said.

University of Adelaide research fellow Matthew Tetlow commented: “The whole project has been an invaluable and unique experience for the many students who have worked on it.”

“It’s not everyday student engineers get to help build a satellite to be launched by NASA,” he added.

“With large space stations, they have to bring them down through the atmosphere eventually and when you have something that big it’s important to know exactly where they will land. This hasn’t been studied historically very well.”

“When you talk about nano-satellites you’re talking about Space 2.0 … it’s another opportunity for Australia to develop its space agency and get back into the space race.”

“Normal satellites can be the size of a bus but CubeSats are the size of a loaf of bread – Along with its standardized interface, it will reduce costs from tens of millions of dollars to tens of thousands.”

The CubeSat project was funded by The Sir Ross and Sir Keith Smith Fund, Inovor Technologies, South Australia Government’s Premier Research and Industry Fund, the University of Adelaide and the University of South Australia, with support from BAE Systems Australia, Vitech and ITP Engines UK.

NASA Atlas V rocket also carried with it two other Australian ‘Cubesats’ developed by the University of Sydney and the University of New South Wales.