A tiny probe armed with new infrared scanning technology will be on board NASA’s 2018 exploration mission to the moon, along with a dozen similar “cube satellites.” Dubbed SkyFire, it is a joint venture between the US space agency and Lockheed Martin. On Monday, Lockheed announced that NASA has given final approval for SkyFire, securing its slot aboard the first Exploration Mission (EM-1). The primary mission, scheduled for September 2018, will be a test of NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) and the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle. SkyFire and other “cubesats” will be part of the secondary payload. Also known as U-class spacecraft, “cubesats” are space probes that consist of one or more 10-centimeter (3.9 inch) cubes.SkyFire is the result of public-private partnerships NASA has been developing as part of its NextSTEP (Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships) program.