Las ventajas de los CubeSats sobre los sat\u00e9lites m\u00e1s grandes son significativas. Los CubeSats son m\u00e1s baratos de desarrollar y probar. El ahorro de tiempo y dinero significa misiones m\u00e1s frecuentes y diversas, adem\u00e1s con menos riesgo. Eso, por s\u00ed solo, aumenta el ritmo de los descubrimientos y la exploraci\u00f3n espacial a bajo costo. Por ejemplo: un equipo de estudiantes de la Universidad de Brown construy\u00f3 un CubeSat en menos de 18 meses por menos de 10.000 d\u00f3lares. Un sat\u00e9lite, de peque\u00f1o tama\u00f1o, ha sido desarrollado para estudiar el creciente problema de los desechos espaciales, adem\u00e1s se despleg\u00f3 desde un cohete de SpaceX en mayo de 2022. Debido a que son tan peque\u00f1os, los CubeSats se pueden lanzar en grandes cantidades en un solo lanzamiento, lo que reduce a\u00fan m\u00e1s los costos. Desplegarlos en lotes, conocidos como constelaciones, significa que m\u00faltiples dispositivos pueden realizar observaciones de los mismos fen\u00f3menos.<\/p>\n
Most CubeSats weigh less than a bowling ball, and some are small enough to hold in your hand. But the impact these instruments are having on space exploration is gigantic. CubeSats \u2013 miniature, agile and cheap satellites \u2013 are revolutionizing how scientists study the cosmos.<\/p>\n
A\u00a0standard-size CubeSat<\/a>\u00a0is tiny, about 4 pounds (roughly 2 kilograms). Some are larger, maybe four times the standard size, but others are no more than a pound.<\/p>\n As a\u00a0professor of electrical and computer engineering<\/a>\u00a0who works with new space technologies, I can tell you that CubeSats are a simpler and far less costly way to reach other worlds.<\/p>\n Rather than carry many instruments with a vast array of purposes, these Lilliputian-size satellites typically focus on a single, specific scientific goal \u2013 whether\u00a0discovering exoplanets<\/a>\u00a0or measuring the size of an asteroid. They are affordable throughout the space community, even to small startup, private companies and university laboratories.<\/p>\n Tiny satellites, big advantages<\/strong><\/p>\n CubeSats\u2019 advantages over larger satellites are significant. CubeSats are cheaper to develop and test. The savings of time and money means more frequent and diverse missions along with less risk. That alone increases the pace of discovery and space exploration.<\/p>\n CubeSats don\u2019t travel under their own power. Instead, they hitch a ride; they become part of the payload of a larger spacecraft. Stuffed into containers, they\u2019re ejected into space by a spring mechanism attached to their dispensers. Once in space, they power on. CubeSats usually conclude their missions by burning up as they enter the atmosphere after their orbits slowly decay.<\/p>\n Case in point: A team of students at Brown University built a CubeSat in\u00a0under 18 months for less than US$10,000<\/a>. The satellite, about the size of a loaf of bread and developed to study the growing problem of\u00a0space debris<\/a>, was\u00a0deployed off a SpaceX rocket in May 2022<\/a>.<\/p>\n