The CubeSat satellite revolution

Until not long ago, satellites were heavy devices (weighing several tons) that required large and powerful launch rockets to place them in the stratosphere.

And not only were they heavy, they were also very expensive and you couldn’t afford to lose any in an askew launch.

All this has changed with CubeSat satellites.

They are given this name because a few years ago a professor Bob Twiggs of Stanford University proposed to his students the design of a satellite that would come apart with all the previous schemes, and fit in the box of a children’s toy.

That challenge meant changing the concepts of what a satellite was, and placing them in cubic boxes of just over 10 cm. sideways, and weighing just over a kilo, instead of the tons before.

This has revolutionized the satellite business, since many of them (not all) are very light, which can be launched into space with smaller and cheaper rockets, and dozens of satellites can be launched at the same time.

Before, launching a satellite could cost around 500 million dollars, and today you can put a CubeSat in orbit for about 100,000 dollars. The difference is more than appreciable.

Of course, each one can have different applications, but the reality is that many of them are exactly the same and only take pictures of the earth’s surface. For this, they only require a camera, a processor like a mobile phone, batteries and solar panels.

By obtaining photos of what is happening on the earth’s surface, information with very different applications can be obtained. From traffic, to the situation of crops, situation of the flow of the rivers, etc … almost anything we can think of.

Today there are companies like Planet (founded in 2010) that have fleets of dozens of satellites around the world, and several others that intend to do the same. We will end up having tens of thousands of satellites orbiting the Earth.

And that can be a problem, because the Earth belongs to EVERYONE, and not only to those who have the economic capacity to surround it with satellites.

There should be some regulation so that abuses do not occur. Not everything is valid. And the space must be used for the benefit of all, not just a few.

As countries continue to be sluggish in their reactions and take time to react, by the time they take adequate measures it is possible that we are already saturated with satellites around us.

I wish I was wrong !!