A satellite the size of a Rubik’s cube?

INESC TEC Science Bits – Episode 20 

Link to episode (in Portuguese) 

Guest speaker: 

Susana Barbosa, INESC TEC

Keywords: space | satellites | climate | exploration | research | space junk | ionosphere

Satellites allow everyone to have access to fast and efficient communications, and one cannot imagine a world without Zoom calls or mobile phones. However, the number of dead satellites orbiting the planet is alarming. According to NASA, there are 27.000 pieces of satellites and other debris around the Earth. Experts call it “space junk”. But what if satellites were smaller? Small enough to fit in the palm of a hand? Would this be a more sustainable option for future telecommunications?

Susana Barbosa, researcher at INESC TEC, is working on the solution – her team is supporting the development of nanosatellites through the NEWSAT project.