The rise of nanosatellites

Big things sometime come in small packages

The Small Satellite Orbital Deployer.
(Image credit: REUTERS/NASA/Handout)

America's space program might seem stagnant — after all, NASA retired the Space Shuttle program back in 2011 and still doesn't have a replacement to send U.S. astronauts to the International Space Station and bring them back home. But America's private space industry is booming.

Private spaceflight companies are making incredible progress. Just witness the recent highly publicized launch and synchronized dual booster landing of SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket, which is now the largest operational rocket in the world. But it's not all about size. There's also been a flurry of activity with very small satellites.

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Swapna Krishna

Swapna Krishna is a space, science, and tech reporter. She's a contributing writer at Engadget and her work has been published at Gizmodo, Newsweek Magazine, Fast Company, and more. She lives outside Philadelphia.