An Orbital Sciences (OSC) Pegasus booster was air-launched over the Pacific on 18 May, placing Terriers and Mublcom satellites into low earth orbit.
The OSC-built 48kg Mublcom is a US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency/US Army Communications Electronics Command spacecraft designed to demonstrate to combat forces and civil users digital voice and data communications previously considered out of range of standard radio communications.
The 125kg Terriers satellite, built by Boston University, AeroAstro, NRL and MIT, will provide ionospheric science data for students as part of the NASA Student Explorer Initiative.
The satellite may have been lost, however, following launch after a failure to deploy its solar array.
Source: Flight International
