QbX-2

Spacecraft n°:

US spacecraft n°:

Launch data: Designation  37245 / 10066B Launch date  08 Dec 2010 - 15:43 UT Launch site  CC, SLC-40 Launch vehicle  Falcon-9 Mission  Secret (Cubesat Experiments) Earth orbit on Dec 9.65: Perigee / Apogee  282 x 312 km Eccentricity  0.002 Inclination  34.53 deg Period  90.47 min

Mission details:

• SpaceX launched its second Falcon 9 rocket at 1543 UTC on Dec 8, successfully putting the first Dragon spacecraft into orbitfor a test flight.
• The Dragon C1's Trunk Module remained attached to the Falcon 9 second stage after orbit insertion; the capsule separated from the trunk module. About 45 min after launch six small satellites were also ejected from the trunk.
• The small satellites used the 1U (0.1 x 0.1m) and 3U (0.1 x 0.3m) cubesat buses, some with deployable solar panels.
• QbX-1 and QbX-2 are Cubesat Experiments built by Pumpkin Inc. of San Francisco for the National Reconnaissance Office's Colony-1 technology development project. They also carry communications payloads, developed by the Naval Research Laboratory. These first three payloads are 3U cubesats.