Deep space smallsats face big challenges More than half the cubesats that launched on Artemis 1 in November have suffered problems, underlining the myriad challenges facing small satellites beyond Earth’s orbit.
Blue Origin has flown previous NASA missions with its smaller, suborbital New Shepard rocket, which can carry research payloads on short, microgravity trips to the edge of space and back.
A pair of 6U science sats, originally slated to piggyback a ride to Mars with NASA’s Psyche asteroid probe, will instead launch aboard Blue Origin’s New Glenn.