UK Cubesat To Be Launched From Kazakhstan

UKube-1 – the UK’s first cubesat mission – has ‘booked’ its journey into space on a Russian Soyuz-2 rocket. The launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrone in Kazakhstan is expected to take place in March 2013. The UKube-1 nanosatellite is a collaboration between the UK Space Agency, industry and academia. It will allow the UK to fly educational packages, test new technologies and carry out new space research quickly and efficiently. It is envisaged as the pilot for a full national CubeSat programme. Dr David Williams, Chief Executive of the UK Space Agency, said, “UKube-1 is almost ready to fly; the platform is nearly complete, 4 of the missions 5 payloads are mission-ready and we have now secured a launch with Roscosmos. We are eagerly awaiting the start of the innovative experiments that this small but mighty satellite will perform once in orbit around our planet.” More