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Rocket Loaded With Solar Sail and Satellites Blasts Off From Alaska

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Rocket Loaded With Solar Sail and Satellites Blasts Off From Alaska
A shot of a Minotaur 4 rocket carrying seven satellites blasting off on Nov. 19, 2010, from a site in Alaska. (Image credit: Spaceflight Now)

A rocket carrying

The Minotaur 4

"This

Built by the

Here's what's on

FASTSAT

This NASA craft —

The agency spent

FASTSAT is carrying

NanoSail-D will use

Also onboard FASTSAT

O/OREOS

NASA's O/OREOS

O/OREOS is about the

One of these will

STPSat-2

This U.S. Air Force

STPSat-2 will be the

FASTRAC,

Also aboard the

FASTRAC — short

FASTRAC consists of

FalconSat-5 was also

The Radio Aurora

RAX's primary

All of these

Because this will be

The launch marks the

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Mike Wall
Mike Wall
Senior Space Writer

Michael Wall is a Senior Space Writer with Space.com and joined the team in 2010. He primarily covers exoplanets, spaceflight and military space, but has been known to dabble in the space art beat. His book about the search for alien life, "Out There," was published on Nov. 13, 2018. Before becoming a science writer, Michael worked as a herpetologist and wildlife biologist. He has a Ph.D. in evolutionary biology from the University of Sydney, Australia, a bachelor's degree from the University of Arizona, and a graduate certificate in science writing from the University of California, Santa Cruz. To find out what his latest project is, you can follow Michael on Twitter.