Satellite industry aims smaller and lower

The miniaturisation that has transformed consumer electronics over the past decade has begun to reshape the once forbiddingly expensive business of putting a satellite into space.

The field has been particularly transformed by the invention in 1999 of the CubeSat -- 10cm boxes -- which can be joined together to make larger devices, depending on requirements. The size and cost revolution, which has slashed the price of some satellite capabilities from tens of millions of dollars to tens of thousands, is encouraging start-up companies to launch niche, satellite-based enterprises. For business users, there are companies that specialise in judging from space how full oil tanks in critical oil storage facilities are and others that estimate how good a harvest certain agricultural areas will produce. Consumers stand to benefit from services that will provide internet access in remote areas or feed live images to street-mapping services.