Tags: Satellite Launch, Nanosatellite
Publication: SFGate.com
Publication Date: 04/11/2013

A medium-range separating target missile is seen seconds after lift-off from the Pacific Missile Range Facility, Barking Sands, Kauai, Hawaii. Image credit: Wikimedia Commons

The University of Hawaii is planning the first satellite launch from the islands of Hawaii using the U.S. Navy’s Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kauai. The military has used the facility to test missiles but never a satellite.

The satellite, designed by faculty and students, is called HiiakaSat. Kauai Community College students will operate the satellite and also command and control the ground station. The Hawaii Space Flight Lab, which runs the program, has plans to make this the start of a venture to launch small satellites from the island, attracting companies looking to test space technology.

HiiakaSat will be placed in low-earth orbit for a mission that will last one or two years.

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