Small Satellites

In the past decade, the field of small satellites has expanded the space industry in a powerful way. Hundreds, indeed thousands, of these innovative and highly cost-efficient satellites are now being launched from Earth to establish low-cost space systems. These smallsats are engaged in experiments and prototype testing, communications services, data relay, internet access, remote sensing, defense and security related services, and more. Some of these systems are quite small and are simple student experiments, while others in commercial constellations are employing state-of-the-art technologies to deliver fast and accurate services. This handbook provides a comprehensive overview of this exciting new field. It covers the technology, applications and services, design and manufacture, launch arrangements, ground systems, and economic and regulatory arrangements surrounding small satellites. The diversity of approach in recent years has allowed for rapid innovation and economic breakthroughs to proceed at a pace that seems only to be speeding up. In this reference work, readers will find information pertaining to all aspects of the small satellite industry, written by a host of international experts in the field.

Small Satellites is the first book to describe the state of the art in microstats, nanostats, picostats, and CubeSats and the possible missions they can perform. More than two dozen internationally renowned contributors provide commentary on 50 years of history.

In recent years, small satellites have taken the space industry by storm. Their short development times, low cost, significant miniaturisation, standardisation and commercial availability have truly revolutionised the space industry. They make space accessible to non-professionals and on an individual level. This book is the first to explore the status of small satellites vis-à-vis international space law, examining which provisions are applicable and what kind of legal issues the traditional definitions pose when considering novel small satellites activities. The author sheds clear light on current regulatory challenges raised by the commercial and research activities of small satellites as well as by governmental and military applications. She covers the legal implications in such aspects of the small satellites revolution as the following: liability for damage caused or suffered by small satellites; State responsibility for non-governmental space activities employing small satellites; registration of space objects; launch practices; online availability of components and launch slots; the connection between small satellites and space debris; the role of space insurance; and legal challenges posed by large constellations of small satellites. In the course of the description and analysis, the author provides case studies showing how these challenges can be dealt with, offers deeply informed insights on emerging trends and future developments and indicates which jurisdictions may be most favourable to small satellite activities. The small satellites market is booming, and both States and industry are in need of guidance relating to the regulatory situation. Accordingly, this book will help stakeholders in the industry – universities, business entities and individuals, as well as non-commercial entities engaged in small satellites operations – understand what kind of regulatory challenges exist and what should be done in order to solve these challenges in the future.

This book details key trends involving the recent formation of scores of companies that build and launch small satellites or provide key components for small satellite constellations. The applications and usage are quite diverse and include student experiments, serious scientific experimentation, and totally new types of commercial constellations, particularly in telecommunications and remote sensing. The explosive growth in the design, manufacturing, and launch of small satellites is one of the most dynamic aspects in the area of space exploration and exploitation today. New commercial space companies such as Planet Labs, Sky Box, OneWeb, and LeoSat are now building and launching thousands of small satellites and cubesats into orbit. Small companies and big aerospace companies alike are getting into this exciting and interesting new business. This is a practical guide that provides advice to students, researchers, LEO satellite companies, and regulators wrestling with some of the new challenges that small satellites present as more and more companies and countries around the world enter the new small satellite arena.

Small Satellites – Regulatory Challenges and Chances edited by Irmgard Marboe addresses the booming phenomenon of small satellites. It shows the importance of existing rules and regulations to ensure the safe and responsible use of outer space by universities, start-ups and governments.

Since the launch of UoSat-1 of the University of Surrey (United Kingdom) in 1981, small satellites proved regularly to be useful, beneficial, and cost-effective tools. Typical tasks cover education and workforce development, technology demonstration, verification and validation, scientific and engineering research as well as commercial applications. Today the launch masses range over almost three orders of magnitude starting at less than a kilogram up to a few hundred kilograms, with budgets of less than US$ 100.00 and up to millions within very short timeframes of sometimes less than two years. Therefore each category of small satellites provides specific challenges in design, development and operations. Small satellites offer great potentials to gain responsive, low-cost access to space within a short timeframe for institutions, companies, regions and countries beyond the traditional big players in the space arena. For these reasons (particularly the low cost of construction, launch and operation), small (micro, cube or nano) satellites are being preferred by students and educational institutions, amateur radio operators, small and developing countries, international aid agencies and most recently by defense agencies and satellite operators who are examining deployment of constellation clusters instead of conventional application satellites. In some cases these new capabilities are being deployed as hosted payloads on larger satellites. The advent of hosted payloads as a significant part of the satellite industry represents a key new topic that this book will address. The number of small satellites—of various types--is increasing fast as their benefits are being realized. This short and unique interdisciplinary book, covering both technical and regulatory aspects, examines all the different types of applications and reasons for small as well as exploring technical and operational innovations that are being introduced. It also examines the new technical standards, removal techniques or other methods that might help to address current problems and the regulatory issues and procedures to ameliorate problems associated with small satellites, especially mounting levels of orbital debris and noncompliance with radio frequency and national licensing requirements, liabilities, export controls and so on.

The biennial IAA Symposium on Small Satellites for Earth Observation provides a forum for scientists, engineers and managers to exchange information about planned and on-going programs and missions, and present new ideas, covering small satellite mission objectives as well as technology and management aspects for dedicated earth observation satellites. This volume presents selected contributions of the 5th IAA Symposium on Small Satellites for Earth Observation, April 4 - 8, 2005, organized by the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA), Paris, France, and hosted by the German Aerospace Center (DLR), Berlin, Germany.

Remote observations of Earth from space serve an extraordinarily broad range of purposes, resulting in extraordinary demands on those at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and elsewhere who must decide how to execute them. In research, Earth observations promise large volumes of data to a variety of disciplines with differing needs for measurement type, simultaneity, continuity, and long-term instrument stability. Operational needs, such as weather forecasting, add a distinct set of requirements for continual and highly reliable monitoring of global conditions. The Role of Small Satellites in NASA and NOAA Earth Observation Programs confronts these diverse requirements and assesses how they might be met by small satellites. In the past, the preferred architecture for most NASA and NOAA missions was a single large spacecraft platform containing a sophisticated suite of instruments. But the recognition in other areas of space research that cost-effectiveness, flexibility, and robustness may be enhanced by using small spacecraft has raised questions about this philosophy of Earth observation. For example, NASA has already abandoned its original plan for a follow-on series of major platforms in its Earth Observing System. This study finds that small spacecraft can play an important role in Earth observation programs, providing to this field some of the expected benefits that are normally associated with such programs, such as rapid development and lower individual mission cost. It also identifies some of the programmatic and technical challenges associated with a mission composed of small spacecraft, as well as reasons why more traditional, larger platforms might still be preferred. The reasonable conclusion is that a systems-level examination is required to determine the optimum architecture for a given scientific and/or operational objective. The implied new challenge is for NASA and NOAA to find intra- and interagency planning mechanisms that can achieve the most appropriate and cost-effective balance among their various requirements.