To Widen Path To Outer Space, Engineers Build Small Satellite

It's not much bigger than a softball and weighs just 2 pounds. But the "pico satellite" being designed and built in a University of Florida aerospace engineering laboratory may hold a key to a future of easy access to outer space — one where sending satellites into orbit is as routine and inexpensive as shipping goods around the world. "Right now, the way satellites are built, they're all large, one-of-a-kind and very expensive," says Norman Fitz-Coy, an associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering and the lead investigator on the project. "Our idea is that you could mass produce these small satellites and launch 10 or 20 from a single launch vehicle."

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/11/081113181312.htm