Scheduled For Saturday Liftoff

After its initial launch failed seconds after liftoff last year, Connecticut-based UP Aerospace tells ANN it is geared up for a second try this weekend. The mission, named "SL-2", will fly a wide range of educational experiments and commercial payloads into space.

Examples of educational experiments on SL-2:

• The Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology and the National Aerospace Leadership Initiative have teamed with UP Aerospace as education partners on the LaunchQuest (tm) Program which provides middle and high school students the opportunity to send their own research experiments into space. 800 students from teams around the country and the world, including Alaska, Puerto Rico, and the Netherlands, have developed and designed 44 scientific experiments for the SL-2 mission.
• NASA's Colorado Space Grant and the University of Colorado at Boulder will be flying a proof-of-concept "RocketSat" payload that includes several experiments including a GPS receiver and a video camera.
• Epsori Space Systems will be flying an assortment of vegetable seeds, and plans to distribute them with science curriculum to classrooms this fall.

Examples of commercial payloads on SL-2:

• Celestis, Inc. selected UP Aerospace as the launch services provider for the Celestis Legacy Memorial Spaceflight Mission. The cremated remains of Star Trek's "Scotty" James Doohan and NASA astronaut and pioneer Gordon Cooper will be on SL-2, as well as the cremated remains of more than 200 other people from all walks of life.
• Microgravity Enterprises, Inc. (MEI) will be flying a unique payload, details of which will be unveiled after the launch. MEI has entered an agreement with UP Aerospace to purchase 18 flights over the next four years.
• Astrata/RocketFoto is a start-up enterprise that sends personal photos on round-trip space missions for its customers.

A more complete roster of educational and commercial entities on SL-2, with additional payload details, can be seen at the FMI link below.

UP Aerospace's flagship vehicle, the SpaceLoft XL, can launch up to 110 pounds of scientific, educational, and entrepreneurial payloads into space, with an altitude capability of up to 140 miles (225 kilometers). The company conducts its space launches from New Mexico's Spaceport America, the world's first purpose-built commercial spaceport.

FMI: www.upaerospace.com/SL-2-flight-manifest.html