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WG3K > ANS 05.08.24 17:32l 74 Lines 3846 Bytes #135 (0) @ AMSAT
BID : ANS217.4
Read: GUEST
Subj: Small Satellites of the Future Grow Larger
Path: IZ3LSV<I0OJJ<PI8ZTM<DK0WUE<DK0WUE<VK5RSV<VK2RZ<KC9UHI<KA1VSC<WG3K
Sent: 240805/1522Z 6875@WG3K.#SMD.MD.USA.NOAM LinBPQ6.0.24
Small satellite companies that have grown out of the New Space boom are
retiring the cubesat platforms that made them to focus on larger, more
powerful next-get small sats that promise to unlock new possibilities with
advanced AI and real-time laser-based inter-satellite communications.
Over the past 15 years, small satellites have revolutionized how things are
done in space. Built quickly from cheap, off-the-shelf components, and
small enough to hitch an affordable ride to orbit on the back of bigger
missions, these devices and the young, agile New Space companies behind
them taught the old-school space industry a few lessons.
But New Space is coming of age and the firms behind the small satellite
revolution must live up to expectations less favorable to their trade-mark
experimental ethos. The lowest cost and shortest time to orbit may no
longer be the technologyâ€Ös biggest draw as users want maximum return on
investment and require granted reliability. The firms behind the disruptive
tech, however, have grown up together with their market share and are
tapping into emerging innovation, looking to unleash a whole load of new
applications in the coming years.
The Evolution of the Smallsat
*Members of the ABMA satellite team (with Gen. Medaris and Dr. von Braun
seated in center) with a model of the Explorer 1 satellite. (Photo, U.S.
Army)*
Satellites started small. The first U.S. satellite, Explorer 1 â€ö launched
in 1958 â€ö weighed only 14 kilograms. But the technology, prized for opening
a whole new perspective on our planet, quickly bulked up, enabled by the
increasing lifting powers of fast-evolving rockets. Soon, complex
satellites the size of a school bus took over, observing the planet from
above, broadcasting TV signals across continents and sensing the
environment around them.
It was only in the mid-1980s that researchers renewed their interest in
smaller satellites with masses of tens to a couple of hundred kilograms.
The true small sat revolution, however, began in 1999, with the invention
of a cubesat. Based on standardized satellite units of 10 by 10 by 10
centimeters in size, cubesats opened space to anyone with enough technical
skill to assemble and operate them. Soon, university teams from all over
the world began launching their own experimental spacecraft to provide
their students with hands-on space tech experience.
By 2014, San Francisco-based Planet Labs launched its first commercial
constellation of 28 three-unit (3U) Earth-observing cubesats called Doves.
More than 120 Doves are in orbit today, capturing an image of each place on
Earth more than once a day. Other companies followed suit. As of today,
cubesats have made it to orbit around Mars and the Moon and observed the
impact of NASAâ€Ös Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) into the asteroid
Didymos in 2022 in real-time.
*The Axelspace Pyxis mission launched in March of this year. (Photo:
Axelspace)*
Larger small satellite platforms â€ö up to 500 kg in mass â€ö have also grown
in popularity. In fact, these larger small satellites today dominate space
around Earth thanks to SpaceXâ€Ös constellation of Starlink internet-beaming
satellites.
Consulting firm Novaspace predicts that 26,104 small satellites â€ö including
minisatellites of 100 to 500 kg in mass, microsatellites between 10 and 100
kg and nanosatellites as light as 1 to 10 kg â€ö will launch in the next
decade.
And although the smallsat revolution is already behind us, new technologies
are emerging that promise to supercharge the sector in the coming years.
Via Satellite spoke with a number of experts in the field about what the
smallsat of the future will look like.
Read the full article at:
https://interactive.satellitetoday.com/via/august-2024/what-does-the-smallsa...
[ANS thanks Via Satellite for the above information.]
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