Cislunar Explorers
Pair of spacecraft / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Cislunar Explorers is a pair of spacecraft that will show the viability of water electrolysis propulsion and interplanetary optical navigation to orbit the Moon.[2] Both spacecraft will launch mated together as two L-shaped 3U CubeSats, which fit together as a 6U CubeSat of about 10 cm × 20 cm × 30 cm.
Mission type | Technology demonstration |
---|---|
Operator | Cornell University |
Spacecraft properties | |
Spacecraft | Cislunar Explorers |
Spacecraft type | CubeSat |
Bus | 6U CubeSat |
Manufacturer | Cornell University |
Launch mass | 14 kg (31 lb) |
Dimensions | 10 cm × 20 cm × 30 cm |
Start of mission | |
Launch date | NET Unknown (planned)[1] |
Orbital parameters | |
Reference system | Selenocentric orbit |
Moon orbiter | |
Instruments | |
Commercial cameras | |
NASA CubeQuest Challenge |
The technology demonstrator spacecraft pair is being developed at Cornell University in New York, by a team of researchers, graduate students, and undergraduates.[3] The spacecraft were originally intended to launch onboard the Artemis 1 mission into a heliocentric orbit in cislunar space in 2022; delays caused by difficulties during integration led to their removal from the Artemis 1 manifest; a new launch provider has not yet been chosen.[1][4]