Launch Photos: Minotaur 1 Rocket Lights Up Night Sky

TJ3Sat Made by High School Students

Thomas Jefferson High School

Asha Punnoose beams next to TJ3Sat, a the first CubeSat to be built by high school students and launched into space through NASA's ELaNA program. [Read the Full Story of the Successful Night Launch Here]

TJCubeSat (TJ³Sat) Undergoes Vibration Testing

Orbital Sciences Corp.

The TJ³Sat is a small-size CubeSat developed, built and tested by students from the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria, Virginia. It will be launched as part of Orbital Sciences' ORS-3 mission on Nov. 19, 2013, from Wallops Island, VA. [Read the Full Story of the Successful Night Launch Here]

Firefly Satellite in Low-Earth Orbit

NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

An artist's rendition of the football-sized Firefly satellite in low-Earth orbit. Firefly's mission is to study the relationship between lightning and huge bursts of gamma rays called terrestrial gamma ray flashes. It is scheduled to launch on Nov. 19, 2013, with 27 other CubeSat missions on the Orbital Sciences ORS-3 mission, lifting off from Wallops Island, VA. [Read the Full Story of the Successful Night Launch Here]

PhoneSat 2.4

Miriam Kramer/SPACE.com

PhoneSat 1.0 (right) and PhoneSat 2.4 both use commercially available smartphones as the brains of the satellites. Photo uploaded Nov. 18, 2013. [Read the Full Story of the Successful Night Launch Here]

University of Florida's SwampSat

University of Florida

Student Bungo Shiotani shows off the University of Florida's SwampSat. [Read the Full Story of the Successful Night Launch Here]

Night Launch Pad View: Minotaur 1

NASA TV

An Orbital Sciences Minotaur 1 rocket is seen atop Pad 0B at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Va., ahead of a Nov. 19, 2013 launch of 29 small satellites on the ORS-3 mission. [Read the Full Story of the Successful Night Launch Here]

TJCubeSat (TJ³Sat) Undergoes Vibration Testing Closer View

Orbital Sciences Corp.

The TJ³Sat is a small-size CubeSat developed, built and tested by students from the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria, Virginia. It will be launched as part of Orbital Sciences' ORS-3 mission on Nov. 19, 2013, from Wallops Island, VA. [Read the Full Story of the Successful Night Launch Here]

Minotaur 1 Rocket Ready to Launch ORS-3

NASA Wallops Flight Facility

An Orbital Sciences Minotaur 1 rocket is seen atop Pad 0B at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Va., ahead of a Nov. 19, 2013 launch of 29 small satellites on the ORS-3 mission. [Read the Full Story of the Successful Night Launch Here]

Minotaur 1 Rocket Ready to Launch ORS-3

NASA Wallops Flight Facility

An Orbital Sciences Minotaur 1 rocket is seen atop Pad 0B at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Va., ahead of a Nov. 19, 2013 launch of 29 small satellites on the ORS-3 mission. [Read the Full Story of the Successful Night Launch Here]

Mission Control for ORS-3 Launch on Nov. 19, 2013

NASA TV

A shot of mission control shortly before the ORS-3 mission blasted off from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia on Nov. 19, 2013. [Read the Full Story of the Successful Night Launch Here]

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Space.com is the premier source of space exploration, innovation and astronomy news, chronicling (and celebrating) humanity's ongoing expansion across the final frontier. Originally founded in 1999, Space.com is, and always has been, the passion of writers and editors who are space fans and also trained journalists. Our current news team consists of Editor-in-Chief Tariq Malik; Editor Hanneke Weitering, Senior Space Writer Mike Wall; Senior Writer Meghan Bartels; Senior Writer Chelsea Gohd, Senior Writer Tereza Pultarova and Staff Writer Alexander Cox, focusing on e-commerce. Senior Producer Steve Spaleta oversees our space videos, with Diana Whitcroft as our Social Media Editor.