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Podcast: The Future of Everything
Episode: Simone DâAmico: âThe Swarmâ is coming to an orbit near you
Description: The geostationary satellites used for communication and weather forecasting today are very large and very expensive â and most are still functioning perfectly when they must be disposed of because they run out of fuel. In their place, Stanford astronautics professor Simone DâAmico imagines an new era of smaller, less expensive, more efficient satellites that work in tandem to accomplish things their bigger brethren never imagined. He calls it distributed space systems â formations or âswarmsâ of small satellites.Distributed space systems have breakthrough applications in earth and planetary science, astronomy, and astrophysics, as well as in-orbit servicing and space in...