The UAE's involvement in space is about to reach another milestone with the launch of a nano-satellite onboard a Cygnus spacecraft in Virginia.
A team of 20 students from Khalifa University of Science and Technology saw three years of hard work sent into space on Saturday when their MYSAT-1 nano-satellite heads to the International Space Station.
The spacecraft took off on time at 04:01am Eastern Time (13:01pm UAE) at Nasa's Wallops facility.
You can watch a recap of the launch below:
LIFTOFF! @northropgrumman’s #Antares rocket just launched from @NASA_Wallops in Virginia. Heading to @Space_Station, the #Cygnus cargo vehicle will deliver about 7,400 pounds of @ISS_Research and cargo. Watch as it continues its journey into space: https://t.co/mzKW5uDsTi pic.twitter.com/vpUXFYvK6S
— NASA (@NASA) November 17, 2018
MYSAT-1 is a type of "CubeSat" that weighs 1.3kg and has been developed by students enrolled in the Space Systems and Technology Masters in Engineering degree at the university.
It has a camera that will take pictures of Earth, and will also be used to test a lithium-ion battery created at Khalifa University.
This is what it looks like:
Once #CHEFSat & #MySat1 are deployed above #ISS altitude, #Cygnus will travel well below @Space_Station to deploy #KickSat2, a #CubeSat from @NASAAmes & @Stanford. #KickSat2 will release small #ChipSats, tiny spacecraft on circuit boards, which will burn up after a few days #NG10 pic.twitter.com/N2bwHmB5h7
— Nanoracks (@Nanoracks) November 16, 2018
It's the first to be built at the Yahsat Space Lab in Masdar City.
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