SMALL SATELLITES + FUTURE OF HUMANITY
SpaceX / Satellites
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Recently, SpaceX gained widespread media attention. As you may know (if you were following along), it was due to the successful launch of the Starlink constellation.
This network of small satellites — a myriad of thousands and one day, potentially tens of thousands of satellites — each around 250kg in weight — promises to revolutionise internet access across the planet.
Everything from media (e.g. movies) on demand, to social content, networking our friends with our friends-of-friends; the lifeblood of the modern era in other words, is not only taken for granted, but is not equally accessible. Perhaps for the reader of this article, this might prove to provide pause for thought.
From where did the era of the small satellite emerge?
Perhaps with a “Smaller, Cheaper, Faster, Better” mantra to harness innovation at the rim of the technology horizon, NASA and a range of space-technology outfits have proven themselves adept at devising solutions for problems that required efficiency capitalising upon miniaturisation’s possibilities.
The paper, “CubeSat: A new Generation of Picosatellite for Education and Industry Low-Cost Space Experimentation” explores some of the pertinent issues associated with engineering and in-particular material design as the questions were posited in 2000 (at the turn of the century).
The current generation of small-satellite builds upon the work laid by the research presented in this paper. If you seek a deeper understanding of small-, nano- and pico- satellites etc. then look no further! You will be introduced to a range of challenges faced by space engineers and scientists in this era, including the efficient use of space (within the satellite) and learn of the multi-organisational approach to satellite research that characterises this paper.
