Small Satellites : Insights from Space, Decisions on Earth

Search for near-by restaurants, ATMs, pharmacies, or supermarkets, and Google Maps will tell you how to get to the place you're looking for. It also makes suggestions and recommends similar destinations to make the search more accurate. Learning to understand road maps or asking direction every two streets are no longer needed after Google Maps came into play.

But how does this miraculous world-covering map tool work? To put it simply, it’s a combination of data collected and processed by satellites and government agencies. Google Earth and Google Maps both use satellites to capture views from above. Small satellites capture street markers, building locations, etc.

Not only this, but small satellites help us in several ways. It is one of the small satellites in space, that is (transmitting signals to your DTH) helping your DTH let you watch your favourite show or cheer for your favourite player during a game from the comfort of your living room.

Small Satellites – Big Discoveries (Applications and more…)

To define, these man-made spacecraft of low mass and size, usually under 500 kgs are sent to space to serve specific purposes. These small satellites permeate almost every sector, making people safer, lives more efficient, and modernizing the way any national infrastructure works. Let us explore some of the major applications of small satellites –

1. Earth Observation – Small satellites gather information about planet Earth's physical and biological systems usually using imaging devices. The applications include weather forecast, agriculture (crop yields management, and more.), energy (oil & gas deposits), infrastructures (harbors, airports…), environment (deforestation, desertification, melting ice...), navigation, military, and natural disaster prevention, among others.

The most powerful Earth observation satellite is said to be ‘Landsat 9’ launched by NASA in September 2021, which can scan the planet every 99 minutes monitoring key natural and economic resources from orbit.

1. Technology and Science – Small satellites are used to serve multiple tech and science purposes including but not limited to radio transmission, meteorology, and other science missions.

• Small Satellites in Meteorology - where a small satellite is called upon to play an important role in storm detection and in the development of climate and weather models that help improve weather forecasts.
• Science & Tech satellite and the space race - The world's first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1 was launched by the Soviet Union back in the year 1957, marking the start of the space race. This satellite was launched to place a radio transmitter into orbit around the Earth.
• NASA has updated the old adage – ‘big things come in small packages’ - in the form of CubeSats. The technology packed into these tiny denizens of space was originally developed in 1999 for educational purposes, NASA has since used them for new science missions and to test new electronics, sensors and software that might be included in larger missions.

2. Security, Defence and National Space Programmes - Today's armed forces rely on space-based information for inspections, weather tracking, navigation and more. Different reports suggest that as of 2021, there are ~400 known military satellites orbiting the earth (in total), half of which are owned by the US, followed by Russia, China, and India.

DID YOU KNOW - The first-ever military satellite was launched back in the 1960s, when the United Kingdom created Skynet as its own military communications satellite system, owing to inadequate submarine cable availability and to increase flexibility, reliability, and security.

3. IoT and Communications - The Internet of Things (IoT), machine-to-machine communication (M2M), telephony and Internet access have become some of the most common small satellite applications. To think of a day without the application of communication satellites is bit difficult.

Did you use a cellular phone, a fax machine, a pager, or even listen to the radio? Well, if your answer is, yes, you probably used a communications satellite, either directly or indirectly.

The Skyrocketing Growth of Communication Satellites –

In the 1950s and 60s, the world witnessed the United States and the Soviet Union spur each other on to incredible achievements in the original space race. Space exploration has become more collaborative since then.

Not only government, but small satellites permeate almost every sector, making people safer, our lives more efficient, and revolutionising the way our national infrastructure works. You’d not be surprised to know that these small satellites impact our day-to day life as well. One of the major purposes that are served by the small satellites is, Communication.

What kind of communication? Is it Telecommunication? Or Data communication?

By communication, we mean telecommunications, broadcasting, and data communications. Let us have a quick read about the basic types of communication services that satellites provide:

• Telecommunication services include telephone calls and services provided to telephone companies, as well as mobile, and cellular network providers.
• Broadcasting services include radio and television (DTH or satellite television) delivered directly to the consumer and mobile broadcasting services.
• Data communications as the name suggests, involve the transfer of data from one point to another. With the growth of the Internet, a significant amount of Internet traffic goes through satellites, making Internet Service Providers one of the largest customers for satellite services.

The use of Satellite Communication has become widespread throughout the globe for such diverse applications as Telephones, DTH Broadcasting, and mostly, the Internet. The demand for Communication satellites has been growing rapidly owing to the rising demand for internet services as the world is moving towards digitalization.

Let us have a look at the records that show the growing demand of Comm. Satellites in numbers –

• More than 620 spacecraft were launched in Q1 2022. But, driven by the continued deployment of the OneWeb and Starlink constellations, about 75% spacecraft launched were communication satellites.
• There were ~ 1740 satellites launched in the year 2021, out of which 80% were communication satellites.
• In the year 2020, 83% of 1200 satellites were for communications purposes.

DID YOU KNOW – Small satellites launched for Communications purpose in 2021 counted to 3,135– an increase of 71.12% since December 2020.

Can you imagine a world without the internet today?

Obviously NO!

Faced with the need for 24/7 internet connectivity for the different economic sectors, telecommunications technology has created several systems and tools to be at the forefront of this reality, regardless of the diverse circumstances that may act as a bottleneck in the communication and coverage, such as weather or geographic location. Satellite Internet allows connectivity in remote locations without the need for complex systems to access the internet service or specific programs and/or developments that are required for it to run.

According to International Telecommunication Union, only ~35% of the rural world uses the internet. And Satellite Internet Providers like Starlink, operated by SpaceX, aim for global coverage including rural areas too.

Fact Check - According to the 2018 American Community Survey, in the US, ~8.4 million households rely on satellite internet: that's about 6 percent of America, states news.

Are Small Satellites only ‘SMALL’?

No. While all such satellites can be referred to as ‘small’, different classifications are used to categorize them based on mass. Not all small satellites are SMALL. Some are Mini, Micro, Nano, Pico, and Femto.

How are they different from one another? Here is a graph that shows some of the differences they have-

Some of the examples of different types of small satellites are -

Mini Satellites – Maximum Possibilities

Among mini, micro, nano, and pico satellites, mini satellites are simpler and use similar technologies as larger satellites. SpaceX, one of the key players in the mini satellite sector is primarily employing these satellites for communication and broadband internet services.

According to the site SpaceXstats, as of June 2022, ~2,450 satellites are currently orbiting the Earth. SpaceX has increased the number of its internet satellites by 2.5x in the past 18 months, from a count of 966 small satellites in January 2021.

The US Wins the Race to Space

As of January 1, 2022, of the 4,852 active artificial satellites orbiting the Earth, 2,944 belong to the United States. This is by far the largest number for any single country, with their nearest competitor, China, accounting for only 499. Pioneering the small satellites market, in the year 2020, new small satellite launches in the USA grew six-fold from that of the 2019-level, mainly driven by SpaceX’s Starlink constellation.

The figure below depicts number of active satellites orbiting the Earth, and particulars about the satellites owned by the US.

(Source - https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/satellite-database)

With the growing emphasis on the production and launch of small satellites to cater to the need for broadband connectivity solutions, military support, and other services, The Asia-Pacific region is gradually growing. China is the leading contributor in the region in the wake of strong expenditure on space exploration and defense activities. Its expenditure on space programs reached >10 billion US$ in 2021.

Covid Impact on Small Satellites–

While the Covid pandemic brought many industries to a screeching halt, the small-sats industry has hardly had any struggle to thrive. However, the momentary halt of satellite production lines, rescheduling of launches, and restricted availability of funding led to some turbulence amid the pandemic.

In 2020, >1,200 small satellites were launched, which stands as the highest number of launches in a year as compared to all the previous years. In 2021, almost >1700 small satellites have been launched, even more than that of 2020. The world has witnessed a constant growth in the number of satellites over the last decade, driven by several reasons including –

• The development of the smaller CubeSat l enabled the launching of a large number of small-sized satellites at the same time.
• The race for satellite broadband services, especially SpaceX Starlink – In May 2019 SpaceX launched the first batch of 60 small satellites aboard a Falcon 9. By May 2021, it had launched 1737 Starlink satellites.

The year 2022 is set to be a big year for space. Space is rapidly becoming more accessible: developing nations, private companies, and others are now launching spacecraft every now and then. Within the next decade or so, several small satellites will be launched into Earth's orbit. Have a look at the projects from the earth to space –

• On July 7^th, 2022, SpaceX has launched 53 more Starlink internet satellites.

• Boeing has begun building the latest version of the Wideband Global SATCOM satellite system, WGS-11+, using advanced techniques, that will substantially increase the data capacity of communication services for the U.S. government and its allies. It is scheduled for delivery in 2024.

• Amazon.com, in November 2021, requested approval from U.S. communications regulators to deploy >4,500 additional satellites as part of the company's effort to deliver broadband internet to areas around the world that lack high-speed service.

Small Satellites Have 'Lots of Space' to Grow

With the reducing manufacturing, development, and operational prices, aerospace companies are stepping ahead into space at a fast pace. These lower and affordable costs have opened the doors for several private companies to enter the small satellites market, a space once occupied by government companies.

The small satellites market grew from USD 763.7mn in 2017 to USD 4657.0 mn in 2022, exhibiting a growth of ~500%. Also, it estimates that in the coming 5 years, the market will reach ~ USD 8,456.3 mn, almost double of what it is in the year 2022.

No wonder, looking up into the sky, the small satellites market has a ‘space full of opportunities.’

Authored by Stratview Research and originally published on SatMagazine.com.