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Mapping Weak Signals

Inspired by: interviews » Cubesats and the revolution in space science

version: 1 / created: 2010-10-09
id: #986 / version id: #986
mode: VIEW

Originally submitted by: Alex Soojung-Kim Pang
List of all contributors by versions (mouse over)
Last changed by: Alex Soojung-Kim Pang
WI-WE status:
submitted unpublished

Source of inspiration

Interviews

The source of the Weak Signal is

Interviews with cubesat scientists and engineers.

Signal's headline

(max. 9 words)
Cubesats and the revolution in space science

Signal's description

(approx. 150 words)
Please describe the Weak Signal (approx. 150 words)
Cubesats-- 1 liter-sized satellites weighing no more than a kilogram-- have been around for about a decade, and are now starting to be the subject of serious scientific and defense research. New programs sponsored by NASA and the ESA, the creation of cubesat-centered space programs by small nations or states (e.g., Estonia and Kentucky), and growing commercial interest in cubesats, suggest that they could be to space science what the PC was to science in the 1980s and 1990s: a low-cost, disposable technology that supports rapid innovation; enables new players to conduct space research; supports radical experimentation with satellite and mission design; and eventually makes space accessible to amateur scientists.

Keywords

cubesat, democratization, space research, space, satellite, space weather, amateur science, astronomy

Mini-description

(max. 250 characters)
Cubesats-- 1 liter-sized satellites weighing no more than a kilogram-- are becoming a platform for serious, low-cost, innovative space science, particularly in investigations of low-earth orbit phenomena, and could revolutionize space missions.

Signal's first apperance

2005-now

Signal's potential evolution

It could lead to...
issue type of issue/development potential impact on society timeframe for the issue to become at least 50% probable
#1 increased access to space by amateur scientists, NGOs, and others. new/emerging
 		neutral
 		now-2015

Importance

please specify
please select
Level 4: important for the whole world

Filters preventing the signal's monitoring

scientific filters (knowledge/technology access)

Key driving forces of this signal

Please use these boxes to provide up to 2 drivers of HIGH importance. Click on HELP to see examples:
Driver 1 Driver 2
Social open source as inspiration for cubesat community
Technological/Scientific miniaturization of electronics, batteries, and other subsystem technologies
Economic need for cheaper space science platforms
Environmental need for cheap monitoring and research technologies
Political opportunity for small states to have space programs
Values/Ethical/Cultural interest in space as "final frontier"

Major risks & opportunities associated to the signal

Please choose the most appropriate timeframe option(s) to which you would like to provide inputs.
Risks Opportunities
before 2015 greater access to space could enable terrorists or other bad actors revolutionize space science, particularly around space weather and environmental monitoring
between 2015-2025 more space junk, if cubesats are not properly designed to be self-disposing (by burning up in the atmosphere)

Potential stakeholders' actions

short-term actions
(now-2015) 		longer-term
(after 2015)
Policy actors (at the international, European and national levels) Follow cubesat research
Business actors (incl. SMEs) Explore opportunities created by access to space, esp. looking to PCs for relevant historical parallels
Academic/Research sector Continue cubesat research
Non-for-profit organisations (e.g. NGOs, political parties, social movements, voluntary associations) Explore opportunities created by access to space, esp. looking to PCs for relevant historical parallels

Signal's relevance for European Grand Challenges

where? please justify:
particularly relevant Europe world
Ethics and abuse of S&T
Governance and trust in democracy Cubesats can give NGOs access to space and the surveillance capabilities therein.
Social pathologies & ethics As a potential platform for or technical infrastructure supporting terrorism
Innovation dynamics Cubesats are popular as a teaching tool, and a means of getting students interested in space science.
Techno-security, hazard & risk Cubesats could serve as a platform for the militarization of space, or give non-state actors access to space.
Sustainability and climate change By making it possible to deploy inexpensive environmental monitoring networks.

Signal's relevance for thematic research areas

please justify:
particularly relevant
ICT - Information & communication technologies Cubesats will probably drive research in swarming, mesh networks, antenna design, and atmospheric interference with wireless
Space Cubesats could revolutionize space science, by providing a disruptive technology that operates under very different economic and technical rules than traditional large satellites
Security
Research infrastructures Cubesats could serve as a lightweight, low-cost infrastructure for space science
Research for the benefit of small & medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) Because of their low cost, cubesats could make space research and low-gravity research accessible to SMEs.

Pan-European strategies influencing the signal

please justify:
particularly relevant
Improving researchers mobility and career development by, for example, realising a single labour market for researchers. Cubesats increase opportunities for students, scientists from smaller and less prosperous countries, and scientists from outside the astronomy/space sciences community to engage in space and low-gravity research

Research-friendly strategies potentially improving understanding of the signal

For further information about 'research-friendly strategies' click here
please justify:
particularly relevant
Strengthening the actors in the research-friendly ecology
(i.e. Research funding organisations, universities, businesses, Research and Technology Organisations, Researchers and Citizens) 		Cubesats have followed the model of open source software: its innovators have been a blend of academics, government scientists, industrial researchers, and amateurs.

Signal's relevance for future R&D and STI policies

Note: RTD = research and technology development; STI = science, technology and innovation
Cubesats could serve as a technology platform similar to open source software or the personal computer: a cheap technology that enables innovative science and research, whose constraints (e.g., very small size and weight, rugged operating environment) serve to foster rather than inhibit innovation. Cubesats can be developed and delpoyed very quickly, which means that space programs organized around them can operate more like startups or small enterprises than large bureaucracies.