Stanford Radio

The Future of Everything with Russ Altman "Simone D’Amico: “The Swarm” is coming to an orbit near you" A professor of astronautics foresees a new space age in which distributed space systems made of small satellites work in tandem to replace or augment their monolithic ancestors. EPISODE NOTES The geostationary satellites used for communication and weather forecasting today are very large and very expensive — and most are still functioning perfectly when they must be disposed of because they run out of fuel. In their place, Stanford astronautics professor Simone D’Amico imagines an new era of smaller, less expensive, more efficient satellites that work in tandem to accomplish things their bigger brethren never imagined. He calls it distributed space systems — formations or “swarms” of small satellites. Distributed space systems have breakthrough applications in earth and planetary science, astronomy, and astrophysics, as well as in-orbit servicing and space infrastructure. One task D’Amico foresees for wha