NASA CubeSat Joins ESA's Ariane 6 Maiden Flight as Rideshare Payload

NASA has successfully launched the CURIE (CubeSat Radio Interferometry Experiment) as a rideshare payload on the European Space Agency's (ESA) first Ariane 6 rocket. The launch took place at 4 p.m. GFT on July 9 at the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana.

The CURIE mission, designed by a team from the University of California, Berkeley, aims to utilize radio interferometry to investigate the key elements influencing space weather.

CubeSats are constructed using standardized units, each measuring approximately 10 centimeters on each side. The CURIE mission began as a 6U CubeSat and separated into two 3U spacecraft once in orbit. These two satellites will observe radio waves from the Sun and other celestial sources from different perspectives, enabling enhanced data collection.

The CURIE project was selected by NASA's CubeSat Launch Initiative during its 11th application round in 2020. This mission is one of eleven payloads chosen by NASA's Launch Services Program, in collaboration with ESA, to fly on the inaugural Ariane 6 rocket, with contributions from various space agencies, commercial entities, and academic institutions.