In the hands of America’s brightest undergraduates, cube satellites; milk carton-sized space instruments have found room on recent launches to demonstrate their unique strengths. Mainly cheapness. Satellites can be constructed and programmed for under $100,000.00 (given a certain amount of student labor) and launched aboard larger payloads for discounted rates.
http://www.nature.com/news/mini-satellites-prove-their-scientific-power-1.15051
Two 30-centimetre-long Earth-observing CubeSats were released from the International Space Station in February. Photo: Nature Magazine.
