Article Posted on : - Aug 27, 2010

A file photo

BANGLORE (BNS): QB50 is an international network of 50 CubeSats for multi-point, in-situ measurements in the lower thermosphere and re-entry research, the satellites measures 10 cm x 10 cm x 10 cm and weighs less than 2 Kg.

“The plan is to use 50 CubeSats to study the atmosphere between 90 and 320 km, and the process of re-entry into the atmosphere for three months,” Chief Executive officer of Satellite services Ltd, Mr James Barrington- Brown, said at the ongoing Bengaluru Space Expo 2010, a four-day exhibition on space, satellites and technologies.

The CubeSats will be built by universities with same sensors. The satellite will run around the earth with an initial altitude of 320 km and would last about 3 months due to the limited orbital life in these low orbits.

The satellite is proposed to be launched by July 2013 on a Shtil rocket from the nuclear submarine base in Murmansk, north of the Arctic Circle.

The small satellite industry was mainly developed for the Research and Development process but now these satellites has introduced a new phase in the field of science and technology in smaller means.