The CubeSat Revolution : Small but Mighty Satellites

“A picture is worth a thousand words. A satellite image is worth a million dollars.” — Sarah Parcak

It has been over 65 years since we witnessed the first artificial Earth satellite, Sputnik 1 enter Earth’s orbit in 1957. We as humans were at a loss for words as we revolutionized space technology like never before. Owing to further technological advancements, in today’s era, we are introduced to a more miniaturized, convenient, and affordable version of satellites known as the nano-satellites. While Sputnik weighed around 83.6 kg, these nano-satellites weigh between 1 to 10 kg with better-equipped characteristics to suit the need of a mission.

Under this section of nano-satellites falls CubeSats which have been known to change the face of space since their development took place in the 1990s. It originally came into existence to help graduates run affordable space missions but was rapidly adapted by start-ups and other commercial space companies because of its diverse applications. CubeSats gained benefits from sharing rocket rides developed for larger satellites. The standard CubeSat size commonly referred to as “Units” or “U,” is 10 cm x 10 cm x 10 cm. They can be 1u to 6u in size and weigh no more than 1.33 kg per U.

CubeSats not only help in conducting scientific experiments and performing technical demonstrations in space, but is useful in monitoring Earth, climate, and disaster response as well as connectivity for IoT, communications, etc.

While CubeSat has various applications, its main aim is to reduce design and deployment costs for satellite developers to rapidly design, build, test, and launch new space missions. As we are aware of how expensive a standard satellite mission can be, CubeSats provides an alternative by running low-risk missions for advanced scientific research.

Owing to the drop in space mission cost and significantly less weight than a traditional satellite, there was a rise in the number of CubeSats launched, especially between 2012 and 2017. According to an article by Wilson Center, a total of 730 CubeSats were launched, accounting for half of all satellite launches.

The rise in the number of CubeSats being launched exposed an issue in the space environment by making it more crowded than ever before which could lead to orbital debris and make other satellites vulnerable to cyber-security threats. But proper actions were taken to address these issues. For instance, NASA suggested all CubeSats include tracking features that will help to de-orbit after the mission is completed.

As a result, CubeSats have paved the way for fresh research and faster innovation, providing greater exposure for various groups of individuals. It allows researchers and companies with fresh ideas and studies to participate in space exploration that might otherwise go unexplored. To facilitate this process, we extend our services to run life-science experiments in space.

Let your space journey begin with ResearchSat.