As part of NASA’s Educational Launch of Nanosatellites (ELaNa) mission, the Kentucky nanosatellite, along with a number of other similarly small orbiters, made their way to space in hope of furthering space based scientific achievement.
According to NASA, “[N]anosatellites are designed for a wide spectrum of space missions, including biology experiments, testing advanced propulsion and communications technologies.”
Within the nanosatellite ecosystem, “CubeSats are in a class of small research spacecraft called picosatellites. They have a size of approximately 4 inches, a volume of about 1 quart and weigh no more than 2.2 pounds.”
While the Ky-Sat-2 is certainly a small machine, its possible benefits are great. Equipped with a number of 3D printed components, one of the cubesat’s latent goals was to see how high-performance 3D printed material could hold up in the vacuum of space.
As the Ky-Sat-2 travels through space for the next year, it will gobble up images of the Earth below and inform researchers of the architecture required to create a functional satellite. In the near future it’s likely that 3D printed parts will continue to be integrated into space fairing systems, possibly pushing our extra-planetary vehicles to even greater heights.
Images and Video Courtesy of CRP & Kentucky Space