National Aeronautics and Space Administration N A S A f a c t s FASTSAT is NASA’s rst microsatellite designed to create a capability that increases opportunities or secondary, scientic and technology payloads, or rideshares, to be fown at lower cost than previously possible. The overal l objec tive othe FASTSAT missio n is to demonstrate the capability to build, design and test a microsatellite platorm to enable govern- mental, academic and industry researchers to conduct low-cost scientic and technology exper- iments on an autonomous satellite in space. Such research is intended to support NASA’s Science Mission Directorate and Exploration Systems Mission Directorate, led by NASA Headquarters in Washington. FASTS AT establishes a platorm and environment where science and technology research experiment payloads olow- and mid-level complexity can be fown responsively and aordably in low-Earth orbit The F ASTS A T mic rosat ellit e des ign supports the standards othe Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle Secondary Payload Adaptor, or ESPA – an adapter ring developed by the U.S. Department oDeense, or DoD, specically or accommodating secondary spacecrat launch opportunities. Fast, Aordable, Science and Technology SA T ellite (F ASTSA T) Microsatellite The FASTSAT spacecrat bus outftted wit h six payloads. Credit: NASA
