An Australian-built spacecraft will be launched from the International Space Station for the first time next year, as researchers from three Australian universities get ready to make history.

The Qb-50 project will launch 50 mini-satellites, or CubeSats, from the International Space Station into the little-understood thermosphere.

The project involves 28 different countries and has been four years in the making.

The CubeSats are expected to be launched from the ISS sometime in January next year after being sent into space from Houston, Texas, in December.

In all, three Australian CubeSat satellites weighing just 2 kilograms each will be involved.

Found between 200 and 380 kilometres above the Earth, the thermopshere is the section of atmosphere in which satellites circle the earth.

The thermosphere begins about 200km above the earth. ( ABC News )

It is the planet's last layer of atmospheric defence before space.

The Thermosphere is also where weather patterns are measured, where the aurora borealis is created, and where the Earth's atmosphere is most impacted by solar activity.

Researchers say it is the least understood layer of the atmosphere, and the research will have major implications.

"The thermosphere affects us in many ways," said Dr Elias Aboutanios from the University of New South Wales (UNSW).

Dr Aboutanios is also project leader for UNSW's E-co CubeSat satellite.

"[The Thermosphere] affects our weather here on the ground. It's very important for our understanding of our entire atmosphere," he said, listing long-range radio communications as another crucial activity which takes place in the thermosphere.

Three different teams set for launch

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INSPIRE-2 is a UNSW, Sydney University and Australian National University (ANU) project that will measure the temperature and density of plasma in the region.

Professor Iver Cairns of Sydney University, the project leader for the INSPIRE-2 satellite, said the ion and plasma particles in the thermosphere change the make-up of radio waves, which then have an impact on radars and GPS equipment.

"If you have unexpected ionisation due to flares or other activity, you can mislocate the plane, and it can think that it's five metres above the ground, when it's in fact 10," he said.

"That's where it becomes a real problem for air traffic controllers."

In addition to INSPIRE-2, the University of Adelaide and University of South Australia are teaming up on the SUS-Sat while a UNSW project called Ec0 will study the atomic composition of the thermosphere.

Plastic satellites breaking ground

Dr Aboutanios said recent advances in satellite technology have given researchers the opportunity to make satellites en masse, for cheaper.

"They used to be made out of aluminium, [but now] we've made it out of a thermo-plastic, which is coated with nickel to give it conductivity," he said.

The use of plastic and 3D printers to make satellites is an experiment in itself, adding to hopes that future costs can be radically reduced.