At the News Center at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Andrew Petro, the agency's acting director of the Early Stage Innovation Division of the Office of the Chief Technologist, discusses the agency’s CubeSat Launch initiative. CubeSats provide opportunities for small satellite payloads to fly on rockets planned for upcoming launches.
CubeSats, a class of research spacecraft called nanosatellites, are flown as auxiliary payloads on previously planned missions. The cube-shaped satellites are approximately four inches long, have a volume of about one quart and weigh about three pounds. For more information, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/directorates/heo/home/CubeSats_initiative.html Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett