All three microsats deployed

Now all three microsats of Space Technology 5 have spun off into orbit, deployed by the Pegasus rocket dropped from an airplane off the California coast at 9:02 a.m. EST. Folks at Vandenberg Air Force Base applauded the news. More data about the satellites will be transmitted through the Deep Space Network later this morning to confirm that they are healthy.

This trio of tiny NASA satellites is designed to test small technology and pave the way for future research and monitoring systems involving dozens of satellites. They could monitor space weather, including solar storms that can endanger satellites and astronauts in space. Magnetic measurements taken by the microsats can tell scientists about electric currents associated with solar disturbances. This $130 million mission is expected to last for about three months. Future such missions could last several years.