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CubeSats Spurring Satellite Revolution
kkleiner writes "Thanks to the miniaturization of electronics, small CubeSat satellites have quickly become the standard for orbital Earth monitoring. Their modular design and lower cost makes them accessible to many, from university researchers to backers of crowdfunding campaigns. This year, the number of CubeSats launched will at least double the number in orbit to date."
I believe that the orbit of these is so low that it degrades relatively quickly, and is out of the way of any real satellites.
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Great, just what we need, even more ... Damnit. First post AC beat me to it! But I had time to skim TFA and didn't see a reference to de-orbiting them.
They're in low-earth orbit. It's not an issue, because they deorbit naturally.
If they charged a "redemption fee" for each cubesat - similar to what many states do with aluminium cans - you could have homeless people clean up the mess.
If 10-15 years is "relatively quickly," yes. The majority of satellites are in LEO, and it's where there is the most concern about space junk.
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