Mini MIT satellites rocketing to space station

A Russian rocket launched this week is carrying the first of three small, spherical satellites developed at

to the International Space Station, representing a major step toward building space-based robotic telescopes and other systems.

The MIT SPHERES project (Synchronized Position Hold Engage Re-orient Experimental Satellites) involves satellites about the size of volleyballs that are designed to float in space while maintaining a precise position. A number of such instruments, floating free in space, could serve as parts of a massive telescope looking for planets near other stars.

Launched from the Baikonur facility in Kazakhstan, the rocket with the satellites was expected to dock with the station today.

The first critical test of the SPHERE is set for Thursday, May 18 inside the space station. Two additional SPHERES are scheduled to reach the space station, carried up by the US space shuttle, before the end of the year.

"We're doing this because these missions have a lot of new, untried technology," said David W. Miller, an associate professor in MIT's Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics. "Testing inside the space station will allow us to mature these technologies in a less risky micro-gravity environment."