at Cornell University. The SSDS is responsible for designing next-generation satellites substantially smaller than CubeSats that will provide distributed in-situ measurements of Earth’s upper atmosphere and other planets. As part of Test Flight 10, the SSDS contributed some of their ChipSats, which were released during the flight to test the SpinLaunch-designed payload deployment system.
“Centimeter-scale spacecraft will be a critical tool in future planetary science missions. Deployed en masse from orbit, ChipSats will descend through the atmosphere and down to the surface of this planet and others, gathering spatially distributed datasets as they fall. To plan these missions, we must understand the chaotic trajectories that low-mass and high-surface-area objects take from the top of the atmosphere to the surface of the planet.
SpinLaunch’s vacuum-sealed centrifuge will accelerate a rocket to more than 8,000 km/h . Credit: SpinLaunch