HawkSat I is a single-unit CubeSat

CubeSat

A CubeSat is a type of miniaturized satellite for space research that usually has a volume of exactly one liter , has a mass of no more than 1.33 kilograms, and typically uses commercial off-the-shelf electronics components...

 which was built is being operated by the Hawk Institute for Space Sciences. It is based around a Pumpkin Incorporated CubeSat kit, and carries a technology demonstration payload, primarily as a proof-of-concept mission, testing command, data and power subsystems, as well as solar panels and communications.

It also carries a commercial material exposure research payload for an undisclosed "major aerospace company", which exposes a number of material samples to space, and records the effects of exposure on the materials. Experimental data will be returned to Earth by means of a store and dump communications system.

It was successfully launched on an Orbital Sciences Corporation

Orbital Sciences Corporation

Orbital Sciences Corporation is an American company which specializes in the manufacturing and launch of satellites. Its Launch Systems Group is heavily involved with missile defense launch systems...

 Minotaur I

Minotaur I

The Minotaur I, or just Minotaur is an American expendable launch system derived from the Minuteman II missile. It is used to launch small satellites for the US Government, and is a member of the Minotaur family of rockets produced by Orbital Sciences Corporation.Minotaur I rockets consist of the...

 rocket from Pad 0B

Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport Launch Pad 0

Launch Pad 0, Pad 0 or LP-0, also known as Launch Area 0 or LA-0, is a launch complex at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on Wallops Island in the United States. Prior to 2003, the complex was part of the Wallops Flight Facility. It consists of two individual launch pads, LP-0A and LP-0B...

 at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport

Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport

The Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport is a commercial space launch facility located at the southern tip of NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on the Delmarva Peninsula south of Chincoteague, Virginia.-Background:...

, at 23:55 GMT on 19 May. It was a tertiary payload, with TacSat-3

TacSat-3

TacSat-3 is the third in a series of U.S. military reconnaissance satellites. It was assembled in an Air Force Research Laboratory Space Vehicles Directorate facility at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico. The TacSat satellites are all designed to demonstrate the ability to provide real-time data...

 as the primary payload and PharmaSat

PharmaSat

PharmaSat is a nanosatellite developed by NASA Ames Research Center which measures the influence of microgravity upon yeast resistance to an antifungal agent...

 as the secondary. Two other CubeSats, AeroCube 3

AeroCube 3

AeroCube 3 is a single-unit CubeSat which was built and is being operated by The Aerospace Corporation. It is the third AeroCube satellite, following on from AeroCube 1, which was lost in a launch failure in 2006, and AeroCube 2 which was successfully launched in 2007 but failed immediately after...

 and CP-6

CP-6

This article is about the satellite. For the operating system, see CP-6 operating systemCP-6, also known as PolySat-6, PolySat CP-6 or CalPoly 6 is a single-unit CubeSat which was built and is operated by the California Polytechnic State University. It is primarily intended to perform a technology...

, were launched on the same rocket, and together the three satellites are known as the CubeSat Technology Demonstration mission.