Tiny Stamp Size Satellites

Postage stamp-size satellites, from Cornell University researchers, are getting launching on space shuttle Endeavour. Three of the chips satellites, called ‘Sprite’, will be attached to the International Space Station (ISS) and are engineered to collect solar wind data.

Future miniature satellites could be used to explore Saturn within a decade, recording data about chemistry, radiation, and particle impacts as they drop through the planet’s atmosphere.

The super thin, one square inch (645sq.mm) chips are the brainchild of Mason Peck, associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering. They have been under development for three years and were built by Cornell undergraduates Zac Manchester, Ryan Zhou and doctoral candidate Justin Atchison, in partnership with Draper Labs in Boston.

"Their small size allows them to travel like space dust," explained Peck. "Blown by solar winds, they can 'sail' to distant locations without fuel. ... We're actually trying to create a new capability and build it from the ground up. ... We want to learn what's the bare minimum we can design for communication from space.”

The chip satellites could lead to exciting new discoveries in planetary and space science, and advance the miniaturization of space technology, reducing launch vehicle size, cost and greenhouse gas emissions generated during the launch.

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