Testing the limits
Dr Christopher Bridges, lead researcher at the Surrey Space Centre, explains how they got started using the Google Nexus One smartphone, ‘we did a lot of ground testing, checking the electronics for all the things that happen in space. In space, we don’t have any air, we can’t push the heat away, so we have to think about the electronics as they get very hot and cold.  We are really trying to test the limits. If they are as robust as we think they are –people drop them, leave them on their dashboards in the sun – surely they can work in space? That is the harshest environment that we know.’

Bridges points out, ‘the smartphone industry has already spent billions on these and we are trying to leverage some of that newer technology for our satellites. If we leverage this technology, a) can it work? and b) can it help reduce the size and cost of our satellites?’

Apps in Space
After the launch, the next step will be exploring what they can do with groups of these nanosatellites. ‘Having one measurement is good,’ he says. ‘But if you have more than one measurement, we have stereovision, we can sense distance better and the data becomes more reliable.’

They have already had interest from commercial organisations and are working with NASA. The Surrey team encourage the public to be involved. They ran a ‘fly my app’ competition on Facebook with entries from around the world. At a fraction of the cost they are expanding the boundaries of what we can do in Space.