NASA is expanding its international collaboration by launching five CubeSats aboard Artemis II, the program’s first manned mission. These miniature satellites, provided by space agencies around the world, including Germany’s TACHELES, aim to expand our understanding of space and test technologies for lunar exploration.

Artemis II: launch of international CubeSats

NASA is working to fly five CubeSats from international space agencies during the Artemis II test flight, the first crewed mission of the Artemis campaign.

At a ceremony at the German space agency DLR on September 18, Kathryn Koerner, NASA’s deputy administrator for research systems development, signed an agreement to fly Germany’s TACHELES, a CubeSat that will collect measurements of the effects of the space environment on electrical components for informational purposes. . Technology for lunar rovers.

CubeSat deployment and operation

CubeSats are shoebox-sized payloads with the potential to advance space knowledge. They will fly into space inside the ring connecting NASA’s Orion spacecraft to the upper stage of the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket. They will be deployed into high Earth orbit after the upper stage has separated from Orion and the spacecraft has flown independently and safely at a safe distance from the stage.

By collaborating with other countries to fly CubeSats, NASA is expanding the international community’s access to space and allowing its partners to advance scientific and technological knowledge. Although the mission success of CubeSats has historically been mixed, given their small size and relatively low development costs, the collaboration provides NASA and other countries with the opportunity to work together to integrate and leverage technologies and experiments on Artemis.

International cooperation and future missions

NASA will share more details about other countries it is working with to fly CubeSats on Artemis II, all signatories to the Artemis Accords, once international agreements are finalized.