1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,490
[ MUSIC ]

2
00:00:04,490 --> 00:00:09,820
Think of the International Space Station, and most likely you imagine an orbiting laboratory,

3
00:00:09,820 --> 00:00:17,020
where scientists observe how plants, materials, and humans react to microgravity conditions.

4
00:00:17,020 --> 00:00:22,230
But during the past decade, the station has also served a very different role -

5
00:00:22,230 --> 00:00:31,370
that of being a business incubator. And this is one of its star products - the CubeSat.

6
00:00:31,370 --> 00:00:36,010
The small satellite that's paying big dividends - A NASA ScienceCast

7
00:00:36,010 --> 00:00:40,650
The CubeSat is one of many types of satellites now found in space.

8
00:00:40,650 --> 00:00:49,910
It is one of the smallest; one "unit" is a compact 10 by 10 by 10cm cube and is commonly referred to as 1U.

9
00:00:49,910 --> 00:00:54,910
And it can be deployed for a fraction of what its larger cousins cost.

10
00:00:54,910 --> 00:01:02,300
Early small satellites launched from the station were literally thrown into space by Russian cosmonauts!

11
00:01:02,300 --> 00:01:07,260
In 2012, crewmembers began utilizing the airlock in the Japanese Kibo module

12
00:01:07,260 --> 00:01:11,540
to deploy up to 6U of CubeSats per airlock cycle.

13
00:01:11,540 --> 00:01:20,080
And not long after, the American company Nanoracks built and began operating an even more robust deployer on the station,

14
00:01:20,080 --> 00:01:26,320
capable of launching up to 48U per cycle. That changed everything.

15
00:01:26,320 --> 00:01:32,450
Mike Read is the manager of space station business and economic development at Johnson Space Center.

16
00:01:32,450 --> 00:01:40,470
He notes how one of Nanoracks' first customers, Planet, leveraged the new launch capabilities aboard the space station: 

17
00:01:40,470 --> 00:01:44,120
"Planet wanted to take high resolution photos of Earth.

18
00:01:44,120 --> 00:01:50,550
While you can take pictures from the space station, your coverage is limited by the station's orbit.

19
00:01:50,550 --> 00:01:56,320
With multiple CubeSats however, you can position them to cover almost any point on Earth."

20
00:01:56,320 --> 00:02:03,600
In a relatively short time, Planet deployed several generations of CubeSats from the space station,

21
00:02:03,600 --> 00:02:08,520
proving the viability of their technology approach and their business model.

22
00:02:08,520 --> 00:02:12,740
With these successes, Planet quickly expanded to an operational fleet

23
00:02:12,740 --> 00:02:18,510
of over 150 satellites deployed using commercial launch providers.

24
00:02:18,510 --> 00:02:24,000
This fleet gives them the ability to image the entire Earth's landmass every day.

25
00:02:24,000 --> 00:02:28,840
Planet's imagery is now in high demand by companies and governments

26
00:02:28,840 --> 00:02:37,080
who use this big data in the fields of agriculture, forestry and land use, mapping, and disaster response.

27
00:02:37,080 --> 00:02:42,880
Within a decade the company has grown from a true start-up to employing nearly 500 people.

28
00:02:42,880 --> 00:02:47,180
Multiple companies are now building small launch vehicles specifically

29
00:02:47,180 --> 00:02:51,670
to deploy CubeSats and other small satellites into low-Earth orbit,

30
00:02:51,670 --> 00:02:58,300
for use in a variety of ways for companies as well as students and non-profit organizations.

31
00:02:58,300 --> 00:03:04,540
CubeSats are being used to provide internet services to even the most remote regions of the planet.

32
00:03:04,540 --> 00:03:09,810
They're helping build better weather and climate models to improve weather forecasting.

33
00:03:09,810 --> 00:03:16,730
They're enabling text messaging for your phone, around the globe, even without a cell signal.

34
00:03:16,730 --> 00:03:22,650
CubeSats also are leaving the planet. The first and second interplanetary CubeSats

35
00:03:22,650 --> 00:03:26,970
accompanied NASA's Insight Lander on its recent mission to Mars,

36
00:03:26,970 --> 00:03:31,530
relaying data about the spacecraft as it entered the planet's atmosphere.

37
00:03:31,530 --> 00:03:38,020
Some CubeSat missions will serve as pathfinders to help map the way for the Artemis missions to the Moon,

38
00:03:38,020 --> 00:03:42,930
and 13 CubeSats will launch on the first mission, Artemis I.

39
00:03:42,930 --> 00:03:50,310
Read concludes with this observation: "Today, more and more, a single large and expensive satellite

40
00:03:50,310 --> 00:03:54,870
is being replaced by one of the newest members of the satellite portfolio -

41
00:03:54,870 --> 00:04:00,270
a flock of small, less expensive, yet very powerful CubeSats.

42
00:04:00,270 --> 00:04:07,320
Affordable access to space has broadened the station's capabilities in a way that, frankly, was never envisioned.

43
00:04:07,320 --> 00:04:13,100
However, that access has enabled CubeSats to become a sustained commercial success,

44
00:04:13,100 --> 00:04:17,900
contributing significantly to the growing space marketplace." 

45
00:04:17,900 --> 00:04:27,460
For more science and research from the International Space Station, go to www.nasa.gov/iss-science.

46
00:04:27,460 --> 00:04:43,584
To discover more about the space on, around, and beyond our planet visit science.nasa.gov.