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Gif image of CubeSats being deployed

Launch Services Program

NASA’s Launch Services Program (LSP) is responsible for launching rockets delivering spacecraft that observe the Earth, visit other planets and explore the universe – from weather satellites to telescopes to Mars rovers and more.

LSP functions as a broker, matching spacecraft with the best-suited rockets, managing the launch process, providing support from pre-mission planning to post-launch. LSP helps implement NASA’s policy of a mixed-fleet launch strategy, which uses both existing and emerging domestic launch capabilities to assure access to space.

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Rockets

United Launch Alliance Atlas V

Atlas V uses a standard common core booster, up to five solid rocket boosters (SRBs), a Centaur upper stage in a single- or dual-engine configuration, and one of several sizes of payload fairings.

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A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket lifts off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on the Mars 2020 mission.
A United Launch Alliance Atlas V 541 rocket lifts off from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on July 30, 2020, at 7:50 a.m. EDT, carrying NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover and Ingenuity helicopter.
NASA/Tony Gray and Tim Powers

Launch Sites

Kennedy Space Center

One of two primary launch sites for NASA’s Launch Vehicles.

Located along Florida’s central Atlantic coast between Jacksonville and Miami, our nation’s premiere spaceport is ideal for spacecraft requiring a west-east or equatorial orbit.

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A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches with NASA’s Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) spacecraft onboard from Launch Complex 39A, Thursday, Dec. 9, 2021, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches with NASA’s Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) spacecraft onboard from Launch Complex 39A, Thursday, Dec. 9, 2021.

Europa Clipper

NASA's Europa Clipper is the first mission to conduct a detailed science investigation of Jupiter's moon Europa. Scientists predict Europa has a salty ocean beneath its icy crust that could hold the building blocks necessary to sustain life.

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NASA'S Europa Clipper Spacecraft

Upcoming Missions

Learn more about future missions managed by NASA's Launch Services Program.

Illustration of the ESCAPADE spacecraft in orbit around Mars.

ESCAPADE

The two ESCAPADE (Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers) spacecraft will study the transfer of solar wind energy and momentum through Mars’ unique hybrid magnetosphere.

SPHEREx

The Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer (SPHEREx) mission will provide the first all-sky spectral survey. 

An artist's rendering of NASA's IMAP in space.

IMAP

IMAP (Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe) will help researchers better understand the boundary of the heliosphere, a sort of magnetic bubble surrounding and protecting our solar system.

About

CubeSat Launch Initiative

Since its inception, NASA's CubeSat Launch Initiative has launched over 150 CubeSats on more than 40 Educational Launch of Nanosatellites (ELaNa) missions. 

NASA’s CubeSat Launch initiative (CSLI) provides low-cost access to space for U.S. educational institutions, informal educational institutions such as museums and science centers, non-profits with an education/outreach component, and NASA centers for early career workforce development. The initiative’s intent is to inspire and develop the next generation of scientists, engineers, and technologists by offering a unique opportunity to conduct scientific research and develop/demonstrate novel technologies in space.

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The goal of the CHOMPTT mission is to demonstrate new technologies for navigation and satellite networking in space.
Once Launch Services Program pairs CubeSats to a launch, an Educational Launch of Nanosatellites (ELaNa) mission number is assigned. Pictured is ELaNa 19 / Venture Class CubeSats (CHOMPTT) inside Rocket Lab’s facility, located at Huntington Beach California.
Image credit: NASA
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