KAIST’s NeonSat-1 will be the primary payload on an Electron rideshare mission that will also deploy NASA’s Advanced Composite Solar Sail System (ACS3) satellite.
KAIST’s NeonSat-1 will be the primary payload on an Electron rideshare mission that will also deploy NASA’s Advanced Composite Solar Sail System (ACS3) satellite.
NanoAvionics is planning a second solar sail mission using a 12U nanosatellite bus to host NASA’s composite solar sail system ACS3.
NanoAvionics is planning a second solar sail mission using a 12U nanosatellite bus to host NASA’s composite solar sail system ACS3.
NanoAvionics is planning a second solar sail mission using a 12U smallsat bus to carry NASA’s composite solar sail system ACS3.
NanoAvionics was selected to build a 12U nanosatellite bus for an on-orbit demonstration of NASA’s Advanced Composite Solar Sail System (ACS3).
NASA Ames Research Center contracted AST for a 12U bus to carry NASA’s ACS3 payload into low Earth orbit.
NanoAvionics built satellites for missions that included NASA’s Advanced Composite Solar Sail System (ACS3) and Los Alamos National Laboratory’s first astrophysics payload in 20 years.
The contract value for Rocket Lab to launch ACS3 was $1,092,000.
ACS3 is a 12-unit cubesat designed to test the deployment of a solar sail using composite booms seven meters long.
ACS3 will fly as part of an Electron rideshare mission launching in mid-2022 from New Zealand.
ACS3’s composite booms are designed to unspool over the course of 20 to 30 minutes.
ACS3 will launch as part of a rideshare mission scheduled for lift-off from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 in mid-2022.
ACS3 uses composite materials in lightweight booms that deploy from a 12U cubesat to support a solar sail.
Rocket Lab USA, Inc. has been selected to launch NASA’s Advanced Composite Solar Sail System (ACS3) on its Electron launch vehicle.
The Electron launch vehicle’s Kick Stage ability to deploy individual satellites to unique orbits while flying as part of a rideshare was a key factor in Rocket Lab being selected as the launch provider for ACS3.
NanoAvionics of Columbia, Illinois is designing and building the 12U cubesat for the ACS3 technology demonstration.
ACS3 requires a higher altitude than the other rideshare payloads on the same mission, so after deploying the first payloads the Kick Stage will perform another burn with its 3D printed Curie engine to raise the orbit and deploy ACS3.