Space Launch
Launching RASCube into orbit from 2024
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Brief Introduction
In October 2024, RASCube will launch into orbit aboard a prototype space capsule, built by European start-up The Exploration Company. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch the capsule into space, where it will orbit Earth for a period of time, before returning to Earth for a safe landing and recovery.
This project is in collaboration with VXS Space, a space project run by 11-year-old Jackson Burford, who is putting an experiment inside of RASCube!
Image: First prototype of RASCube 'Space Edition'
RASCube's Mission
The primary objective of this mission is to put a space qualified version of RASCube into orbit, bring it back to Earth and display it for students to see. This is to help us directly link the in-class version of RASCube to real space hardware.
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Our secondary objective is to gather data from the launch and allow schools to access it. This will allow students to analyse data from a real space mission!
A Global Effort
Robinson Aerospace (Australia): Develops RASCube's electronics, structure, software and sensor suite.
VXS Space (Australia): Develops VEXUS sub-payload to measure radiation.
The Exploration Company (Europe): Builds space capsule to safely bring RASCube back to Earth, for recovery.
SpaceX (USA): Launches space capsule into orbit.
Image: Hannah Ashford (TEC), Jackson Burford (VXS Space) and Edward Robinson (Robinson Aerospace) at the ISU Adelaide Conference, where RASCube's space launch was announced
VEXUS Payload
11-year-old Jackson Burford is developing a sub-payload (circuit board) which will be securely mounted inside of RASCube during the mission. The sub-payload will measure radiation, magnetic fields and types of shielding during its time in orbit.
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This project is a clear indicator of the huge growth in Australia's space industry, since the Space Agency was founded in 2018. Australia has gone from almost no space activity, to enabling an 11-year-old to launch his project into orbit!