Från ANS-256 kan vi läsa följande nyhet om nya cubesats av modellen QB50:
It has been announced that the fifty CubeSat QB50 constellation should be
shipped to the International Space Station (ISS) in July 2016 for subsequent
deployment. It had been planned for them to be launched by Alcantara Cyclone
Space, a joint venture between the governments of Ukraine and Brazil, but that
option is not longer available.
The AlbertaSat website reports on the 9th QB50 Workshop, held September 8, 2015
in Liège, Belgium. The CubeSats are now planned to be deployed from the ISS
using the Japanese Experiment Module (JEM) and the Nanoracks CubeSat Deployers.
Eight NanoRacks deployers are installed on the Multi-Purpose Experiment Platform
(MPEP). Each deployer has a capacity of 6U and so can hold up to six 1U, three
2U or two 3U CubeSats. They are carried by Japanese Experiment Module-Remote
Manipulator System (JEM-RMS).
AlbertaSat provide an update on the QB50 precursor CubeSats P1/P2 which were
launched in 2014. The first payload is working, and while it has been resetting,
no damage appears to have occurred. It is possible that the second payload is
damaged, but it is still functioning.
Representatives from QB50 also took the time to clearly define their goals and
specify the details of the project. The project aims to probe probe thermosphere
with about 40 sensors which study atmospheric science. These sensors include the
Langmuir Probes that will be on Ex Alta-1. 40 CubeSats will be fitted with one
of these sensors. The other 10 CubeSats will have in-orbit demonstrations.
QB50 project https://www.qb50.eu/
[ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information]