A composite illustration of the HyperAngular Rainbow Polarimeter satellite. Photo: NASA and SDL

Utah State University’s Space Dynamics Laboratory (SDL) announced today that it has delivered a small satellite designed for NASA to measure the microphysical properties of cloud water and ice particles.

The HARP CubeSat satellite was built by SDL to carry the HyperAngular Rainbow Polarimeter payload built by the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) under the direction of principal investigator J. Vanderlei Martins. HARP is currently being prepared for launch by International Space Station (ISS) small satellite launch service provider NanoRacks. HARP is scheduled to launch to the ISS in October aboard Northrop Grumman’s robotic resupply space freighter Cygnus at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport. HARP will be ejected into space following its placement on the ISS.

“Working together with Dr. Martins and his team at UMBC as well as the NASA Earth Science Technology Office is a great example of academia, industry, and government working together to answer scientific questions for the benefit of mankind,” said Tim Neilsen, SDL program manager for HARP. “Among SDL’s responsibility was to design, build, and test the HARP spacecraft, which measures approximately 10 centimeters wide, 10 centimeters high, and 30 centimeters long, while UMBC developed and build the polarimeter payload. We look forward to the successful launch and deployment of HARP from the ISS.”