Modern Small Satellites-Changing the Economics of Space | Zendy

Martin N. Sweeting | Zendy

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Modern Small Satellites-Changing the Economics of Space

Author(s) -

Martin N. Sweeting

Publication year - 2018

Publication title -

proceedings of the ieee

Language(s) - English

Resource type - Journals

SCImago Journal Rank - 2.383

H-Index - 287

eISSN - 1558-2256

pISSN - 0018-9219

DOI - 10.1109/jproc.2018.2806218

Subject(s) - general topics for engineers , engineering profession , aerospace , bioengineering , components, circuits, devices and systems , computing and processing , engineered materials, dielectrics and plasmas , fields, waves and electromagnetics , geoscience , nuclear engineering , robotics and control systems , signal processing and analysis , transportation , power, energy and industry applications , communication, networking and broadcast technologies , photonics and electrooptics

Earth orbiting satellites come in a wide range of shapes and sizes to meet a diverse variety of uses and applications. Large satellites with masses over 1000 kg support high-resolution remote sensing of the Earth, high bandwidth communications services, and world-class scientific studies but take lengthy developments and are costly to build and launch. The advent of commercially available, high-volume, and hence low-cost microelectronics has enabled a different approach through miniaturization. This results in physically far smaller satellites that dramatically reduce timescales and costs and that are able to provide operational and commercially viable services. This paper charts the evolution and rise of small satellites from being an early curiosity with limited utility through to the present where small satellites are a key element of modern space capabilities.

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