After examination of all the debris from the launch failure of the Antares 130 rocket in October last year, a surprising find was made. The small Danish 2U cubesat GOMX-2, which is a de-orbit technology test satellite, had actually survived the Antares explosive launch failure. It was recovered from the debris and returned to its maker, the Danish firm GOMSpace. It may fly again.
While most of the spacecraft aboard the flight including the main Cygnus Orb-3 cargo craft, which was carrying GOMX-2 to the International Space Station (ISS), were destroyed, some of the other cubesats have also reportedly survived the explosion.
Comment by David Todd: Just like the joke about making aircraft out of the same material as their “black box” flight recorders, given that they are usually not destroyed in air crashes, the owners of the other spacecraft on the failed Antares launch might be wishing theirs had been made of the same “right stuff” as GOMX-2.
