A year ago, a new Japanese satellite called FitSat was launched by hand from the ISS. It was one of the first Cube Sats.

This new satellite technology (10 by 10 by 10 centimeter cubes) permits students to launch space experiments. Launch costs are as low as $1000 or $2000 per cube. However all costs might be $30,000. Meaning cake sales can now finance space science. Telemetry and radio hardware is often based in consumer electronics; some Audrino based.

One recent UK bird was STRaND-1 using a standard consumer smartphone (Google Nexus One). Using Android apps to perform experiments.

Atlas payload was modified to deploy a cluster of CubeSats for anyone with a reasonable experiment and willing to pay for the launch. More interesting to the DoD are tiny satellites that cannot be tracked like the current array of larger DoD satellites. Lacrosse and other military birds can be observed and tracked even with a naked eye.

These CubeSats are simply using what would otherwise be wasted energy by the launch vehicle.

Sounds like so much space junk. More stuff to avoid.

Fuck FoxNews and every other news outlet on television/cable.

Just read me the damn news, I'll decide for myself what to think about it.

ISS really is not in space. To maintain orbit, it must repeatedly boost itself up. Therefore FitSat launched in a similar orbit was gone by the next year - sucked down to earth by drag created by the atmosphere.

CubSats launched in LEO orbits would also fall and burn up months later. NROL-39 launch vehicle somehow would release CubSats in a lower orbit. Then continue on to deploy the military bird.

CubSats should not remain as orbital garbage. But large numbers of booster rockets (even from 10 and 20 years ago) still remain in orbit.

A recent international treaty now requires satellites to destructively return to earth at end of life. This treaty was inspired by a Chinese test that destroyed their own satellite intentionally creating a large orbiting debris field.