CubeSats: A bright future of nanosatellites.

 Small satellites, generally regarded as having a mass of 500 kg or less, have been around for over half a century, but interest in this area is growing now more than ever. Despite the fact that small satellites are currently in vogue, it is worthwhile remembering that the very first satellites placed into orbit a little over 50 years ago were in fact small satellites: Russia’s Sputnik 1 and the USA’S Explorer 1 were both less than 100 kg. Since the launch of those two satellites in the late 1950s, the average satellite has grown considerably in size and cost Despite these potential benefits of small satellites, the major challenge is finding opportunities to launch them. 

The term ”CubeSat” refers to a cube-shaped satellite measuring 10 cm×10 cm×10 cm and having a mass no greater than 1 kg. This standard size is termed 1U, with U representing a ”unit”. CubeSats are often configured in 1.5U, 2U, and 3U sizes as well, with a corresponding length of 15, 20, and 30 cm respectively while maintaining a 10 cm×10 cm face. To date, over 40 CubeSats have been successfully launched into orbit .One of the first CubeSats was the CUbical Titech Engineering (CUTE)-I satellite (Figure 1), developed by the Laboratory for Space Systems at the Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo Tech) and launched on June 30, 2003 [10].  The ideal small-satellite network would be au tonomous, flexible, dynamically reconfigurable, redundant, and readily deployable. Each nanosatellite would repre sent a node in a network-centric sensor grid that is dynamically reconfigurable according to changing mission requirements. Research is still needed in various areas to make such a network a reality. Although attitude control systems, wireless network protocols, and the like all exist for large satellites, adapting them for the size of a Cube Sat is still a challenge.

The very first satellite placed into orbit over 50 years ago was considered a ”small” satellite, and it created a space race that spurred a technological revolution in the 1960s. Although the size and complexity of satellites  have grown considerably since that time, ironically the industry is coming full circle, with small satellites again stirring worldwide interest. CubeSats, in particular, have begun to inspire a whole new generation of students inter ested in space science, technology, and missions. In fact, one of the co-authors of this article (Bryan Fewell) built his own CubeSat as an 8th grader (Figure 8), an amazing feat considering that most CubeSat projects are under taken by college students. The broader implication is that small satellites aren’t just enablers of new technologies and systems. They’re enabling a whole new generation of students in whose hands the future of small satellites will lie