Thursday, March 28, 2024

UVic students to send satellite into space on NASA’s next launch and you can watch it live

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Two recent graduates from the University of Victoria’s engineering program will get to have their boots on the ground at the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida on Tuesday to see their work be launched into space. 

Alex Doknjas is the tech lead on the ORCASat project which originated right here in Victoria. 

The ORCASat satellite is a groundbreaking project to aid better conditions for viewing distant stars and astronomical objects in space.

The satellite has two laser light sources that are able to provide reference to telescopes on the ground for how much light a celestial object is emitting. This will provide a clearer picture under ideal conditions to the ground telescopes viewing the object. 

(ORCASat)

The ORCASat will be put onboard NASA’s SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket which will liftoff on November 22nd around 1 p.m.

The Falcon 9 will rendezvous with the International Space Station where it will be deployed from. It will collect data for 18 months on its journey through space. 

The UVic made ORCASat won a national competition, the Canadian CubeSat Project (CCP) by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), to win its place in space. It is one of only two projects chosen to go into space on this voyage.  

(ORCASat)

The Falcon 9 launch will be streamed live from NASA. The launch will be weather-dependent in Florida where NASA is launching the Falcon 9 and the ORCASat.

UVic ORCASat launch

  • When: Tuesday, November 22nd at 12:54 p.m.
  • Where: Online via Kennedy Space Center, Florida, USA
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Curtis Blandy
curtis@victoriabuzz.com

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