2 May 2025

NASA and the Korea AeroSpace Administration (KASA) signed an agreement May 2 for KASA to fly a CubeSat on NASA’s Artemis II test flight next year. K-Rad Cube will use a dosimeter made of material designed to mimic human tissue to measure space radiation and assess biological effects at various altitudes across the Van Allen radiation belts, a critical area of research for human presence at the Moon and Mars.

NASA is working with several international space agencies to fly CubeSats on the mission. The collaborations provide opportunities for other countries to work alongside NASA to integrate and fly technology and experiments as part of the agency’s Artemis campaign.

CubeSats are shoebox-sized payloads that are a relatively cost-effective way to potentially expand knowledge of the space environment and enable CubeSat providers to continue to refine development and integration of hardware for missions in space. They will ride to space inside a structural adapter that connects NASA’s Orion spacecraft to the upper stage of the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket and be deployed in high Earth orbit after the upper stage detaches from Orion and the spacecraft is safely flying free on its own a safe distance away from the stage.

The CubeSats, which have their own objectives distinct from NASA’s primary mission of sending four astronauts around the Moon on the first crewed mission under Artemis, take advantage of the unique opportunity made available by NASA for access to space on this critical Artemis test flight.

In September 2024, NASA also announced an agreement with Germany Space Agency DLR to fly a CubeSat on Artemis II.