LightSail 2 is nearly ready to be integrated with its P-POD, the spring-loaded box that will carry it to space. After integration takes place, the loaded P-POD will be shipped to the Air Force Research Laboratory in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Shipping may occur in January. At AFRL, LightSail's P-POD will be installed inside Prox-1, a Georgia Tech-built SmallSat that will hitch a ride to orbit aboard the second flight of SpaceX's new Falcon Heavy rocket.

Because of ongoing delays stemming from the explosion of a Falcon 9 rocket in September, LightSail and Prox-1 are not expected to launch until at least Fall 2017. Engineers have used the extra schedule time to make additional software fixes and minor improvements.

Before handing off LightSail for good, however, the team wanted to conduct another end-to-end test on the space-bound flight unit.

The test began this morning around 10:00 a.m. local time, when the two power-inhibit switches that stay depressed while LightSail is in its P-POD were released. This kicked off the spacecraft's autosequence, a timeline of events that pace the timing of events during the mission. After five minutes, LightSail's antenna deployed as expected: