Feb 26, 2010

John Yembrick Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100 john yembrick-1@nasa gov

RELEASE: 10-052

NASA OPENS HIGH FRONTIER TO EDUCATION AND NOT-FOR-PROFIT GROUPS

WASHINGTON -- NASA is announcing a new initiative to launch small cube-shaped satellites for education and not-for-profit organizations CubeSats are a class of research spacecraft called picosatellites, having a size of approximately four inches, a volume of about one quart, and weighing no more than 2 2 pounds

This is NASA's first open announcement to create an agency-prioritized list of available CubeSats They are planned as auxiliary payloads on launch vehicles already planned for 2011 and 2012

"We're anticipating some exciting proposals for this pilot program with hopes to break down the barriers to the launching of CubeSats," said Jason Crusan, chief technologist for NASA's Space Operations Mission Directorate in Washington "There are organizations that have been waiting a long time for a chance to see their satellites fly in space "

Proposed CubeSat payloads must be the result of development efforts conducted under existing NASA-supported activities Investigations proposed for this pilot project must address an aspect of science, exploration, technology development, education or operations encompassed by NASA's strategic goals and outcomes as identified in the NASA Strategic Plan and/or NASA's Education Strategic Coordination Framework

Collaborators will be required to provide partial reimbursement of approximately $30,000 per CubeSat NASA will not provide funding to support CubeSat activity or development Selection does not guarantee an availability of a launch opportunity

Proposals must be submitted electronically and be received by 4:30 p m EDT April 15 Submissions will be evaluated by NASA personnel Selection is anticipated by June 30

For additional information on this announcement and a complete list of requirements, visit:

http://www nasa gov/directorates/somd/home/CubeSats_initiative html

For more information on NASA's Strategic Plan, visit:

http://www nasa gov/budget

For more information on NASA's Education Strategic Coordination Framework, visit:

http://www nasa gov/offices/education/performance/strategic_framework html

-end-

To subscribe to the list, send a message to: hqnews-subscribe@mediaservices nasa gov To remove your address from the list, send a message to: hqnews-unsubscribe@mediaservices nasa gov

The following information is a reminder of your current mailing list subscription:

You are subscribed to the following list: [list_name]

using the following email: example@example.com

You may automatically unsubscribe from this list at any time by visiting the following URL:

http://www aus-city com/cgi-bin/dada/mail cgi/u/NASA_REPORTS/

If the above URL is inoperable, make sure that you have copied the entire address Some mail readers will wrap a long URL and thus break this automatic unsubscribe mechanism

You may also change your subscription by visiting this list's main screen:

<[program_url]/list/[list]>

If you're still having trouble, please contact the list owner at:

<mailto:[list_owner_email]>

The following physical address is associated with this mailing list:

[physical_address]