JPL engineers Joel Steinkraus and Farah Alibay display a full-scale mechanical mock-up of a MarCO 6U cubesat. Credit: JPL

WASHINGTON — Two tiny cubesats, the first NASA plans to send to another planet, will keep watch on the agency’s InSight mission as it descends to the Martian surface in September 2016, an agency official said June 9.

To continue reading this article:

Register now and get
3 free articles every month.

You’ll also receive our weekly SpaceNews This Week newsletter every Friday. Opt-out at any time.

Sign in to an existing account

Get unlimited access to
SpaceNews.com now.

As low as $5 per week*

Cancel anytime. Sales tax may apply. No refunds. (*Billed quarterly)

See all subscription options

Get access based on your IP

Dan Leone is a SpaceNews staff writer, covering NASA, NOAA and a growing number of entrepreneurial space companies. He earned a bachelor’s degree in public communications from the American University in Washington.