Lunar IceCube
Artist's rendering of the Lunar IceCube spacecraft | |
| Mission type | Lunar orbiter |
|---|---|
| Operator | Morehead State University / NASA |
| COSPAR ID | 2022-156C |
| SATCAT no. | 55903 |
| Mission duration | 2 years, 7 months and 1 day (In Orbit) |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Spacecraft | Lunar IceCube |
| Spacecraft type | CubeSat |
| Bus | 6U CubeSat |
| Manufacturer | Morehead State University |
| Launch mass | 14 kg (31 lb) |
| Dimensions | 10 cm x 20 cm x 30 cm |
| Power | 2 deployable solar panels |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 16 November 2022, 06:47:44 UTC |
| Rocket | SLS Block 1 / Artemis 1 |
| Launch site | KSC, LC-39B |
| Contractor | NASA |
| End of mission | |
| Last contact | November 16, 2022 |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Lunar orbit |
| Regime | Polar orbit |
| Periselene altitude | 100 km (62 mi) |
| Inclination | 90° |
| Moon orbiter | |
| Transponders | |
| Band | X-band |
| Instruments | |
| Broadband InfraRed Compact High Resolution Exploration Spectrometer (BIRCHES) | |
Lunar IceCube is a NASA nanosatellite orbiter mission that was intended to prospect, locate, and estimate amount and composition of water ice deposits on the Moon for future exploitation. It was launched as a secondary payload mission on Artemis 1 (formerly known as Exploration Mission 1), the first flight of the Space Launch System (SLS), on 16 November 2022. As of February 2023 it is unknown whether NASA has contact with the satellite or not.