They hope to use a purpose-built app to test the theory, immortalised in the film Alien, that "in space no-one can hear you scream".
The phone will play out several of the screams submitted by people online. The test will monitor the durability of standard commercial components in space. It will also test two new innovative propulsion systems.
The first - named Warp Drive (Water Alcohol Resisto-jet Propulsion De-orbit Re-entry Velocity Experiment) - uses the ejection of a water-alcohol mixture to provide thrust.
The second technology is pulsed plasma thrusters. These use an electric current to heat and evaporate a material, producing a charged gas that can then be accelerated in one direction in a magnetic field to push the satellite in the other direction.
The mission will see the so-called "smartphone-sat" - a world first - orbit the Earth for six months.
Source: BBC News
