Secret missions
6 The collective
power of CubeSats
© Adrian MannIt’s never been cheaper or easier to launch
CubeSats and nanosatellites into space. Here are
some reasons why they are a fan favourite5 May 2018
The first set of CubeSats to make the journey
beyond Earth were NASA’s Mars Cube One
(MarCO) twins, which accompanied the
space agency’s InSight lander on its voyage
when they were launched.£31,000
($40,000)
Cost to launch a
CubeSat, a fraction of
what it would cost to
launch a large satellite.1,200+
Of these launched
CubeSats, over 1,100
have been successfully
depoluyed.W a l l- E
& EVE
The MarCO CubeSats
were nicknamed after
characters from the
2008 Pixar film WA L L- E.Benefits
They improve global
communications and
navigation, but also
monitor the changing
climate and any
global disasters.
10
3
The basic dimensions
of the cube, from which
CubeSat gets its name,
is just ten centimetres
(four inches) in height,
width and depth.