People Fixing the World
The tiny satellites changing how we see Earth
Up next
November 23, 2021
24 minutes
Available for over a year
CubeSats are small but mighty. They started as an educational toy in 1999, but now help people tackle issues from deforestation in Brazil to modern slavery in Greece.
Cheap to make and launch, these tiny satellites’ biggest role is in remotely scanning the Earth. Thousands are whizzing over our heads right now tracking a huge range of stuff - including herds of elephants, coral reefs and volcanic ash clouds.
We look at how CubeSats have opened up space to nations and start-up companies and helped usher in a new, commercial, space age.
Produced and presented by Claire Bates.
Image: A CubeSat (Nasa)