The innovators: build and launch your own satellite ... for 20,000 pounds

After Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 disappeared on 8 March last year, one of the most vexing questions was: how can a modern aircraft with 239 people on board vanish without trace? Tom Walkinshaw believes a repeat could be avoided by tracking planes via a network of hundreds of tiny satellites that monitor oceans where there is limited radar coverage. The 25-year-old founder of the PocketQube Shop, a Glasgow-based company which provides the components for making tiny 5cm³ PocketQube satellites, is taking advantage of a new generation of space technology that allows small businesses to join an industry previously the preserve of governments and well-funded private companies. More

(Source: The Guardian - Apr 6)