Tomsk-TPU-120 CubeSat to deploy during EVA

The amateur radio CubeSat Tomsk-TPU-120 may be deployed during a Russian spacewalk (EVA) in July 2017. The satellite was developed by students at the Tomsk Polytechnic University to test new space materials technology and is the world’s first space vehicle with a 3D-printed structure. It was launched from Baikonur in Kazakhstan to the ISS on March 31, 2016 in a Progress-MS-2 cargo vessel. It will be deployed by hand during a Russian spacewalk, which is why unlike other CubeSats this one has a handle. The call sign of the satellite is RS4S. According to Alexey Yakovlev, head of the Tomsk Polytechnic University’s Institute of High Technologies, the 3D printed satellite is something of a landmark for additive manufacturing, being the first example of a fully 3D printed satellite... More

(Source: AMSAT UK - Dec 30)