NASA and Saudi Space Agency sign an agreement for a CubeSat to fly on NASA’s Artemis II flight

NASA’s Artemis II mission will send astronauts to explore the Moon for scientific discovery, economic benefits, and build the foundation for the first crewed missions to Mars. Yesterday, it was officially revealed that NASA and the Saudi Space Agency have signed an agreement for a CubeSat to fly on NASA’s Artemis II test flight.

This just in: NASA to Fly Saudi Arabia CubeSat Aboard Artemis II Test Flight
@POTUS announced today that a @saudispace space weather satellite will launch along with our #Artemis II Moon mission: https://t.co/0WGJfYizNM pic.twitter.com/SsCWGPChg2

— NASA (@NASA) May 13, 2025

USA President Donald J. Trump, alongside His Royal Highness Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, announced this agreement in Riyadh as part of an ongoing trip to Saudi Arabia. It is revealed that the Saudi Space Agency’s CubeSat will measure aspects of space weather at a range of distances from Earth and deploy in high Earth orbit from a spacecraft adapter on the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket after Orion is safely flying on its own with its crew of four astronauts.

Wondering what a CubeSat is? CubeSats are about the size of a shoebox and contain technology demonstrations or investigations with the potential to gather information to improve understanding of the space environment.

This is not the first time that NASA has made an agreement with an international space agency to fly CubeSats aboard Artemis II. NASA has agreements with the German space agency DLR and the Korea AeroSpace Agency for CubeSats to hitch a ride to space during Artemis II.

While the CubeSats will detach from the rocket to study the environment around Earth, the crew in Orion will continue on and venture around the Moon and back over the course of a 10-day journey. The Saudi Space Agency CubeSats will collect data on space radiation, solar X-rays, solar energetic particles and magnetic fields.