FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Release # 04-13

Contact: (703) 808-5050 December 2, 2013

NROL-39 Scheduled to Launch with GEMSat Auxiliary Payload

On December 5, the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) is scheduled to 

launch NROL-39 from Vandenberg Air Force Base Space Launch Complex-3E. 

The last of two NRO launches in 2013, NROL-39 will be the NRO’s second 

rideshare mission, utilizing space aboard the launch vehicle to carry an auxiliary

payload into orbit.

NROL-39 will carry the Government Experimental Multi-Satellite (GEMSat) 

payload into orbit in a specially designed Aft Bulkhead Carrier, part of the 

Atlas V Centaur upper stage. The GEMSat payload contains 12 CubeSats, or 

“nanosatellites.” 

GEMSat’s CubeSats will perform a variety of unique scientific experiments and 

demonstrate high-technology operational concepts. Sponsored by the NRO’s 

Mission Integration Directorate and the National Aeronautics and Space 

Administration’s (NASA) Launch Support Program, these CubeSats were 

developed by a number of laboratories, universities, and government entities

across the United States.

The NRO-sponsored CubeSats include:

 Two developed by Aerospace Corporation, called AeroCube-5 (AC-5), 

will demonstrate new technologies for pointing and tracking between two 

identical CubeSats. AC-5 will also record launch environment data such 

as pressure, temperature, and vibration; and will demonstrate a deorbit 

device. 

 One developed by the Air Force Institute of Technology, ALICE, will test 

the performance of an advanced carbon nanotube array, which has great 

potential for smaller, lighter, and more energy-efficient satellite propulsion. 

 Four developed by the United States Army — one called SNaP, 

two SMDC-One, and one TacSat-IV — will demonstrate nanosatellite 

communication capabilities. 

The NASA-sponsored CubeSats, part of NASA’s Educational Launch of 

Nanosatellites (ELaNa) mission, include:
 Two developed by Montana State University Space Science and 

Engineering Laboratory and funded by the National Science Foundation, 

called FIREBIRD, a space weather mission that will seek to resolve 

questions pertaining to microbursts in the Van Allen radiation belts.

 One developed by California Polytechnic State University, IPEX, will 

validate direct broadcast, autonomous science, and product delivery 

technologies supporting advancement of the Intelligent Payload Module 

for the proposed Hyperspectral Infrared Imager earth science decadal 

survey mission.

 One developed by University of Michigan, called MCubed-2, 

will demonstrate an advanced on-board data processing system.

 One developed by Medgar Evers College, City University of New York, 

CUNYSAT-1, will monitor satellite spin, battery, and solar panel 

efficiencies.

NRO CubeSat Rideshare: an Innovative Collaboration

Prior to the first NRO rideshare mission, NROL-36 in August 2012, the United 

Launch Alliance (ULA) redesigned the Atlas V Centaur upper stage pressure 

system, providing additional payload volume on the aft-bulkhead of the upper 

stage. The NRO and ULA developed an Aft Bulkhead Carrier to host an auxiliary 

payload. The NROL-39’s auxiliary payload — GEMSat — contains multiple 

CubeSats integrated into Poly-Picosatellite Deployers, or “P-PODs,” built by the 

California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, California. 

The P-PODs, in turn, are integrated into the Naval Postgraduate School CubeSat 

Launcher (NPSCul), an adapter that can attach multiple P-PODs to a single 

structure. 

Photographs of the GEMSat payload (left) and the NPSCul (right).
“The GEMSat Rideshare on NROL-39 represents a significant milestone in 

accomplishing consistent access to space for advancing novel capabilities in 

support of the NRO and the Intelligence and Department of Defense 

communities,” said Major David Illsley, Chief, Overhead Solutions Branch of the 

NRO CubeSat Program Office.

“Lack of dependable launch opportunities within the United States, have formerly 

imposed a bottleneck on the rate of advancement for small satellite technologies 

and associated capabilities,” said Illsley. “Some payloads on GEMSat will 

demonstrate second generation payload technologies. This high development 

and demonstration tempo allows for rapid transition from innovation to operations 

of novel overhead solutions.”

-NROThe NRO is a joint Department of Defense-Intelligence Community organization responsible for 

developing, launching, and operating America’s intelligence satellites to meet the national 

security needs of our nation.