El Segundo - January 24, 2000 - New satellites for the new millennium are to be launched this week in a mission designed by The Aerospace Corporation under sponsorship of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.In the experiment, two miniature spacecraft, called picosatellites, are to test tiny microelectromechanical devices and demonstrate the principles of how miniature satellites would operate in constellations.
The mission is to be launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base aboard a new Air Force launch vehicle for light satellites. The picosatellites designed by The Aerospace Corporation would be released by a "mother" satellite designed by students at Stanford University and carrying a number of other experimental picosatellites.
The earliest possible date for the mission is Jan. 26. The mission was scrubbed on Jan. 14 because of low power voltage on the avionics power bus batteries, according to the Air Force.
In addition to designing the picosatellites in the project with DARPA, The Aerospace Corporation is providing technical oversight for the integration of satellites in the mission, which features a number of university and research payloads.
MICROSAT BLITZ
Picosat Technology Gets Serious
El Segundo - October 11, 1999 - The picosat launch will take place from the Spaceport Systems International (SSI) Commercial Spaceport at Vandenberg. It is to be the inaugural launch of the Orbital/Suborbital Program Space Launch Vehicle developed by the Air Force Space and Missile System Center's Test and Evaluation Directorate at Kirtland Air Force Base. It also is to be the first launch from the commercial spaceport.
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