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Educational Launch of Nanosatellites (ELaNa) is an initiative created by NASA to attract and retain students in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines. The program is managed by the Launch Services Program (LSP) at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Overview

The ELaNa initiative has made partnerships with universities in the US to design and launch small research satellites called CubeSats (because of their cube shape). These low-cost CubeSat missions provide NASA with valuable opportunities to test emerging technologies that may be useful in future space missions, while university students get to be involved in all phases of the mission, from instrument and satellite design, to launch and monitoring.

A CubeSat has a cubic shape measuring 10 × 10 × 10 cm (1 unit or 1U), and can be fabricated of multiple cubic units such as 2U, 3U and 6U, and weighing 1.33 kg per unit. Because of the high cost incurred by launching them to orbit, ELaNa's satellites are launched as secondary payload on other missions that have mass and space to spare. Since the launch waiting list has grown considerably, another initiative was launched in 2015 in partnership with the private industry to develop launch vehicles dedicated to CubeSats exclusively. A new company is called Rocket Lab and their launch vehicle is the Electron rocket. This agreement with NASA, enables the company to use NASA resources such as personnel, facilities and equipment for commercial launch efforts. In 2015, NASA contracted two other companies for this purpose: Firefly Space Systems and Virgin Galactic. Nevertheless, NASA CubeSats will continue to hitch rides as secondary payloads in larger rockets whenever possible.

As of August 2017, NASA's ELaNa initiative has selected 151 CubeSat missions, 49 of which have been launched into space.

Missions

This article needs to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (July 2024)

ELaNa mission numbers are based on the order they are manifested; due to the nature of launching, the actual launch order differs from the mission numbers.

Launched missions

Future missions

List of future missions:

References

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2. ^ Rocket Lab Signs NASA Partnership to Tap Launch Resources Caleb Henry 31 July 2015.
3. Rocket Lab poised to provide dedicated launcher for CubeSat science Adam Mann, Science Magazine 6 December 2017
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6. "CubeSat ELaNa Launch on Glory Mission" (PDF). nasa.gov. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 February 2017. Retrieved 27 January 2018. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
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12. "All ORS-3 payloads" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 December 2014. Retrieved 27 January 2018.
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17. "ELaNa II Mission Helps Launch Student-Built Satellites". NASA. 13 April 2015. Archived from the original on 3 November 2015. Retrieved 30 October 2015. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
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19. "NASA Launches the Dreams of the Crowd on the ELaNa V Mission as part of CubeSat Launch Initiative". NASA. 13 April 2015. Archived from the original on 15 October 2015. Retrieved 30 October 2015. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
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22. "University Satellites Studying Space Weather and Climate Change Will Launch on NASA's ELaNa X Mission". NASA. 9 April 2015. Archived from the original on 3 November 2015. Retrieved 30 October 2015. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
23. ELaNa 10 CubeSat Launch on SMAP Mission, NASA January 2015 This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
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26. "ELaNa XII Launches 4 CubeSats into Orbit on NROL-55". NASA. 2 October 2015. Retrieved 30 October 2015. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
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32. Clark, Stephen. "Air Force declares failure on Super Strypi test launch". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
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36. ELaNa XVII International Space Station CubeSat Deployment Archived 1 June 2017 at the Wayback Machine, NASA March 2017 This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
37. SpaceX Falcon 9 launches CRS-12 Dragon mission to the ISS, William Graham, NASA Spaceflight, 14 August 2017
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39. Clark, Stephen (19 July 2018). "Launch schedule". SpaceFlight Now. Retrieved 20 July 2018.
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41. "Virgin's satellite launcher reaches orbit on second try". Spaceflight Now. 17 January 2021. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
42. Clark, Stephen (24 January 2021). "SpaceX smashes record with launch of 143 small satellites". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
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46. Wall, Mike (14 January 2022). "Virgin Orbit sends 7 satellites to orbit in fourth mid-air launch". Space.com. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
47. Beil, Adrian (10 February 2022). "Astra suffers failure on ELaNa 41 mission". NASASpaceFlight. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
48. Garcia, Mark (19 February 2022). "U.S. Cargo Craft Launches to Station for Monday Delivery". NASA. Retrieved 20 February 2022.
49. Burghardt, Thomas (July 2022). "Virgin Orbit launches seven satellites for US Space Force and NASA". NASASpaceFlight. Retrieved 2 July 2022.
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51. Navin, Joseph (26 November 2022). "NASA, SpaceX launch CRS-26 mission to ISS". NASASpaceFlight. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
52. Davenport, Justin (14 March 2023). "CRS-27 launches fresh cargo and experiments to ISS". NASASpaceFlight. Retrieved 15 March 2023.
53. ^ Lentz, Danny (15 April 2023). "SpaceX Transporter-7 launches 51 payloads, booster return to LZ". NASASpaceFlight. Retrieved 15 April 2023.
54. Lentz, Danny (4 March 2024). "SpaceX launches Transporter-10 rideshare from Vandenberg". NASASpaceFlight. Retrieved 9 March 2024.
55. Smith, Martin (21 March 2024). "SpaceX's 30th resupply mission uses new access tower at SLC-40 for the first time". NASASpaceFlight. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
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59. Phelps, Norman; Cheney, Liam. "CubeSat Launch Initiative (CSLI) Update" (PDF). NASA. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
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External links

• ELaNa Home page Archived 24 March 2019 at the Wayback Machine at NASA
• Past ELaNa missions at NASA
• Upcoming ELaNa missions at NASA
• CubeSat Launch Initiative at NASA

• CubeSats
• NASA programs
• NASA oversight
• Nanosatellites