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    Weather Looks Good for Launch of NASA’s ELaNa 41 Mission

    Astra's 3.3 Rocket

    Weather is 90% favorable for lift off of Astra’s Rocket 3.3 from at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida as part of the first mission under the NASA’s Venture Class Launch Services Demonstration 2 (VCLS Demo 2) contract. The forecast, by the U.S. Space Force 45th Weather Squadron, predicts a slight possibility of cumulus …

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    Astra Announces New Launch Date for NASA’s ELaNa 41 Mission

    Astra 3.3 Rocket

    Editor’s Note: This post was updated to reflect a new launch date of Monday, Feb. 7. Astra Space Inc. announced that its launch of NASA’s Educational Launch of Nanosatellites (ELaNa 41) mission has been delayed because an unnamed range asset went out of service. Its Rocket 3.3 was scheduled to launch at approximately 3:30 p.m. …

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    Astra Updates Launch Time for ELaNa 41 Mission

    Astra is now targeting approximately 3:30 p.m. EST as the new launch time for its Rocket 3.3 from Space Launch Complex 46 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, as part of the first mission under the NASA’s Venture Class Launch Services Demonstration 2 (VCLS Demo 2) contract. The first operational satellite launch for Astra …

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    Launch Window Opens Soon for ELaNa 41 Mission

    Astra's Rocket 3.3

    Astra’s Rocket 3.3 is ready to lift off from Space Launch Complex 46 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, as part of the first mission under the NASA’s Venture Class Launch Services Demonstration 2 (VCLS Demo 2) contract. The three-hour launch window opens at 1 p.m. EST, with launch scheduled for 2:10 p.m. EST. …

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    NASA Satellites Launch Aboard Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne

    Cornell University students work with the Pathfinder for Autonomous Navigation (PAN), a CubeSat that is part of NASA's 29th ELaNa mission.

    Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne rocket detached from the company’s CosmicGirl aircraft at approximately 5:53 p.m. EST (2:53 p.m. PST) on Jan. 13, 2022,  launching NASA’s 29th Educational Launch of Nanosatellites (ELaNa) mission and the 13th CubeSat in the TechEdSat series. This launch, also known as STP-27VPB, lifted off at approximately 4:39 p.m. EST (1:39 p.m. PST) …

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    Space Weather Focused ELaNa CubeSat Deploys from Cygnus Spacecraft

    The Cygnus space freighter from Northrop Grumman is pictured moments after its capture with the Canadarm2 robotic arm.

    The sole CubeSat of the 33rd Educational Launch of Nanosatellites (ELaNa) mission was deployed into space at 6:50 p.m. EDT June 29 from Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft hours following its departure from the International Space Station. The CubeSat, Ionosphere-Thermosphere Scanning Photometer for Ion-Neutral Studies (IT-SPINS), was stowed within the Nanoracks CubeSat Deployer (eNRCSD) mounted on …

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    ELaNa 20 CubeSats Deployed

    Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne system undergoes final preparations on a taxiway at Mojave Air and Space Port ahead of the company’s Launch Demo 2 mission. Taken in late December 2020. Photo: Virgin Orbit/Greg Robinson.

    Today at approximately 3:35 p.m. ET (12:35 p.m. PT), 10 CubeSats began deploying from Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne Rocket into low-Earth Orbit as part of the Educational Launch of Nanosatellites (ELaNa) 20 mission. Virgin Orbit’s 747-00 carrier, Cosmic Girl, took off from the Mojave Air and Space Port in California at 1:38 p.m. ET (10:38 a.m. …

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    Takeoff! ELaNa 20 Mission on Its Way to Space

    Ahead of the company’s Launch Demo 2 mission, Virgin Orbit’s carrier aircraft Cosmic Girl is staged on a taxiway with LauncherOne underwing at Mojave Air and Spaceport in California. November 10, 2020.

    Marking the first payload carried by the LauncherOne rocket, Virgin Orbit’s 747-00 carrier, Cosmic Girl, took off from the Mojave Air and Space Port in California at 1:38 p.m. ET today. The LauncherOne rocket, attached to the underside of Cosmic Girl’s left wing, is the carrying CubeSats for the encapsulated Educational Launch of Nanosatellites (ELaNa) …

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    Launch Window Opens for ELaNa 20 Mission

    Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne system undergoes final preparations on a taxiway at Mojave Air and Space Port ahead of the company’s Launch Demo 2 mission. Taken in late December 2020. Photo: Virgin Orbit/Greg Robinson.

    Virgin Orbit’s Cosmic Girl aircraft and LauncherOne rocket are positioned for takeoff from the Mojave Air and Space Port in California, in preparation to launch 10 small NASA-sponsored research satellites, or CubeSats, as part of the agency’s 20th Educational Launch of Nanosatellites (ELaNa) mission. Cosmic Girl carries the LauncherOne rocket on the underside of the …

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    CubeSats Deployed From Space Station

    In this photo taken by NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson from inside the International Space Station cupola, the NanoRacks deployer (foreground) is clearly visible as the CXBN-2 and IceCube CubeSats deploy. CSUNSat-1 deployed on time two days later. The three CubeSat payloads make up NASA’s ELaNa 17 mission which launched in April aboard the Orbital ATK Cygnus spacecraft on a commercial resupply flight to the station.

    The CubeSats that make up NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative ELaNa 17 mission have begun their research in earnest. All three have been dispatched in orbit from the NanoRacks CubeSat Deployer on the International Space Station. Orbiting on their own on separate paths, the individual spacecraft will relay data to researchers on Earth as they conduct …

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