(Update: Delayed) NASA launching four CubeSats to space today: Watch live

NASA is gearing up for the launch of four small research satellites called CubeSats to space on Saturday, February 5. These miniature satellites will fly on the Educational Launch of Nanosatellites (ELaNa 41) mission which will be Astra Space Inc's first operational satellite launch.

The ELaNa 41 CubeSat mission will launch aboard Astra's Rocket 3.3 from Space Launch Complex 46 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. This will be the first mission under NASA's Venture Class Launch Services (VCLS) Demonstration 2 contract.

The four CubeSats include:

• BAMA-1: Developed by the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, it is a technology demonstration mission that will con­duct a flight demonstration of a drag sail module by rapidly deorbiting the satellite.
• INCA: Developed by the New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, INCA (Ionospheric Neutron Content Analyzer) is a scientific investigation mission that will study the latitude and time dependencies of the neutron spectrum in low-Earth orbit for the first time to improve current space weather models and mitigate threats to space and airborne assets.
• QubeSat: Developed by the University of California, Berkeley, QubeSat will test and characterize the effects of space conditions on quantum gyroscopes using nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond.
• R5-S1: Developed by NASA's Johnson Space Center, Houston, R5-S1 will demo a fast and cost-effective way to build successful CubeSats in addition to demonstrating some technologies that are important to in-space inspection and could help to make crewed space exploration safer and more efficient.

These CubeSats were selected through NASA's CubeSat Launch Initiative. CLSI enables the launch of small satellite payloads built by universities, high schools and non-profit organizations to fly on upcoming launches.

The launch window will open at 10:00 am PT (01 pm ET). Watch the live stream here.

These student-built satellites are set to go to space tomorrow!CubeSats from @UofAlabama, @NMSU, @UCBerkeley, and @NASA_Johnson are scheduled to lift off Feb. 5 on @Astra's ELaNa 41 mission—get the details: https://t.co/avzicYd9tX pic.twitter.com/22VFa5BQDW

— NASA (@NASA) February 4, 2022

Update 1

Astra has delayed the launch of ELaNa 41 mission because an unnamed range asset went out of service. Liftoff now is scheduled for February 6, 2022.