NASA Opens CubeSat Proposal Window for Artemis Missions with June 1 Deadline

NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) carries the Orion spacecraft and offers extra capacity for secondary payloads. After the upper stage separates from Orion, a ring on the SLS can release CubeSats into Earth orbit, a heliocentric path, or a reentry trajectory. CubeSat size is measured in "units" (U), each 10 x 10 x 10 cm; a 6U unit is 60 cm long and a 12U unit is 120 cm long. The current request for information (RFI) seeks ideas that fit these dimensions and can be integrated with minimal impact on the primary mission.

The RFI requires submissions by Monday, June 1 for initial consideration. Courtney Ryals, acting manager of SLS payload integration at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, said, "The SLS rocket and the Artemis missions provide great opportunities for teams to conduct important, science and technology investigations that contribute to the expansion of human space exploration." NASA flew 10 CubeSats on the uncrewed Artemis I mission in 2022 and four CubeSats on the crewed Artemis II mission. The agency expects to accommodate 6U and 12U CubeSats on Artemis III, IV and V, deploying them after Orion separates from the rocket.

By gathering proposals now, NASA can assess which science and technology experiments fit the available mass, volume and deployment slots on future Artemis flights. Successful submissions could lead to flight opportunities that return data on lunar science, space weather or deep‑space environments while keeping costs low for university and industry teams. The June 1 deadline marks the first step; watch for NASA's selection announcements later this summer, which will reveal which CubeSats will ride the next Artemis launches.