( CNN ) -- Look to the heavens along the East Coast on Tuesday night , and you might be able to see the Air Force blast 29 satellites into orbit at once . The 29 satellites , the most ever launched at one time , will be aboard a single Minotaur I rocket scheduled to lift off from NASA 's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia at 7:30 p.m . They include the main payload , the Air Force 's Space Test Program Satellite-3 , and 28 tiny satellites called CubeSats . The CubeSats are aptly named . Also called nanosatellites , they are small cubes , about 4 inches on each side , weighing about 3 pounds and with a volume of about a quart . Among the CubeSats is the TJ3Sat , built by the students of Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria , Virginia . It will be the first satellite made by high-schoolers to go into space . Once in orbit , the `` TJ3Sat will allow students and amateur radio users the opportunity to send and receive data from the satellite . Students and other users from around the world will be able to submit text strings to be uploaded to the TJ3Sat website , '' according to Orbital Sciences Corp , the developer and manufacturer of the Minotaur rocket . The students have been working on the TJ3Sat for seven years , according to Orbital . Lost world -- what happened to Mars ? The Air Force satellite that is the main payload will conduct a variety of experiments during its expected 13-month mission . The launch will also be evaluated as part of a certification process of the Minotaur rocket for commercial use . That process is being conducted by the Federal Aviation Administration , NASA says . Falling satellite burns up upon re-entry . Orbital says the 29 satellites should achieve orbit in a little less than 12Â½ minutes after the rocket ignites . NASA says the launch may be visible from northern Florida to southern Canada and as far west as Indiana . If you ca n't see the launch from where you are , it will be streamed by NASA live . NASA releases new photo of Saturn , Earth .
Rocket to carry one big satellite , 28 little ones . CubeSats are small , 3-pound nanosatellites . They can be launched into orbit by a rocket or from the ground using an unmanned spacecraft called a drone. The main payload satellite will conduct experiments on its expected 13-month mission .