TechEdSat 8 (TES 8)

TechEdSat 8 [NASA]

TechEdSat 8 (Technical and Educational Satellite 8) is a 1×6U CubeSat. It was built as a conjoined project between San Jose State University (SJSU) and the University of Idaho as a collaborative engineering project, with oversight from the NASA Ames Research Center.

It is a technology demonstration mission that will further develop and demonstrate the Exo-Brake system through full recovery of a payload. It will feature a semi-autonomous control system to target the entry face point, as well as capabilities to measure a unique ablation device on the forebody.

Additionally it hosted the DCS Use Concept Validation project to determine if satellites, primarily small satellites in low earth orbit, can successfully interface with the data collection system (DCS) receivers and thus provide a low-rate data (100, 300, or greater bps) service to satellite users; primarily to assist in launch, early orbit, and anomaly (LEO&A) operations or low data required observations.

It was selected in 2017 by NASA's CubeSat Launch Initiative (CSLI) to be launched as part of the ELaNa program. The satellite was launched to the ISS in late 2018 and was deployed on 31 January 2019 from the ISS. After deployment, it suffered a power failure, leading to the loss of the mission.