Scott Schaire

SOCEM: Sub-Orbital CubeSat Experimental Mission

SOCEM: Sub-Orbital CubeSat Experimental Mission will attempt, for the first time, to eject CubeSats in space from a sub-orbital sounding rocket.1 2 This technology demonstration flight will eject two CubeSats from a standard 17-inch diameter NASA sounding rocket. Two student-designed and student-built CubeSats will be ejected as part of the mission, a 2U CubeSat ADAMASat (Antenna Deployment and Mono-filament Actuator Satellite) developed by Kentucky Space to test CubeSat actuator designs and a 1U CubeSat developed by Cal Poly as a test-bed for PolySat bus technologies. The CubeSats will be ejected perpendicular to the direction of flight without requiring a de-spin maneuver providing the CubeSats with several minutes in space before re-entry and impact in the Atlantic Ocean. The SOCEM flight is scheduled for launch on 21 January 2010. Success in this effort could provide a robust ride-share technology for future NASA sounding rocket missions.