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NASA To Develop Small Satellites

Posted by Soulskill on from the not-necessarily-bigger-than-a-breadbox dept.

coondoggie brings news that NASA has announced it will team with Machine-to-Machine Intelligence Corp. to produce small satellites, called 'nanosats,' weighing between 11 and 110 pounds. The satellites will work together in 'constellations' and facilitate networking in space. According to NASA's press release, it will 'develop a fifth generation telecommunications and networking system for Internet protocol-based and related services.' We've discussed miniature satellites in the past.

2 of 85 comments (clear)

  1. Nothing new Hams been doing for years by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Amateur radio has been doing this for years. They call them microsats and get cheap flight aboard rockets when they get used as ballast.

  2. Re:Mass appeal by GileadGreene · · Score: 4, Informative

    Hate to break it to you, but so-called "picosats" have already been launched. They are indeed in the 1kg mass range. You're also right that "femtosats" are on the cards. See here for one of the more popular mass classification schemes. I'm eagerly awaiting the appearance of the first "yoctosat"...