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Satellites used to be the length of a bus. Now they’re the size of a Beanie Baby. But how are CubeSats changing the way we use space – and the way economics itself is done?

Satelites used to weigh several tonnes and be as long as a bus. Now they’re closer to the size of a Beanie Baby. In fact, as Tim Harford explains, the new microsatellites were originally a student engineering challenge: design a satellite that can fit into a Beanie Baby box. So how are these CubeSats changing the way we use space? And how are they changing the way economics itself is done?

Producer: Ben Crighton
Editor: Richard Vadon

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14 minutes

Last on

Thu 21 May 202023:30
BBC Radio 4

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Broadcasts

  • Mon 16 Sep 201913:45
    BBC Radio 4
  • Thu 21 May 202023:30
    BBC Radio 4

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