• Question: How large are the computers you build?

    Asked by Matacton to Camilla on 16 Jun 2015.
    • Photo: Camilla Weiss

      Camilla Weiss answered on 16 Jun 2015:

      Hi Matacton,

      The size of the computers we build depend on the size of the satellite. For most of our satellites the computer board is about 25cm x 15cm and sits in a ray about 2 cm deep so that it can be stacked on top of other modules. We also build really small satellites called nano satellites or cubesats and in these cases the computer is about the size of your phone.

      In fact a phone does a lot of what a satellite needs to – it has antennas for communication, a gyro for stability (which lets you play cool games using your phone’s movements), a camera and a computer. Becuase we’re always looking for new simpler technology to build our satellites with we decided to launch a phone as a satellite (we added a bit more structure to protect it)! This satellite was called STRAND and is flying in space right now!

Comments