Hermes was an American satellite which was to have been operated by the Colorado Space Grant Consortium.
Hermes was a single-unit CubeSat picosatellite which was primarily designed to test communications systems for future satellites.
A secondary objective was to have seen tests performed upon the satellite bus, which was to have served as the basis for future COSGC missions.
With the fairing still attached the rocket had too much mass to achieve orbit, and reentered over the southern Pacific Ocean or the Antarctic.
[4][5] It was the second consecutive failure of a Taurus rocket, following the loss of the Orbiting Carbon Observatory in 2009.