How Six ways shoebox-sized satellites are trying to change the world

"They couldn't put very much in it, which was the real challenge. It forced them to quit adding things to their designs," Bob says, laughing.

Quicker and cheaper to build and launch than conventional satellites, there are now hundreds of CubeSats orbiting Earth, made by universities, start-ups and governments.

1: Stopping deforestation

The Norwegian government has partnered with the satellite company Planet, to tackle deforestation around the world.

Planet has a constellation of 180 CubeSats continually taking pictures of Earth. Their cameras have a resolution of 3m per pixel and can pick up evidence of logging from space.

"The Norwegian government has paid for data to track deforestation in 64 tropical countries," Will Marshall, CEO of Planet says.

2: Tracking endangered animals

Earlier this year, a team of students from Italy and Kenya launched the WildtrackCube-Simba. This CubeSat will monitor birds and mammals in Kenya's National Park.

"We have had conflicts between humans and wildlife, for example when elephants have invaded farmers crops, damaging the property, and sometimes even killing people," says Daniel Kiarie, a student engineer in Nairobi.

"So we want to help them prevent that by giving them prior information about the movement of animals, so they can ward them off before they get to the villages."

3: Exposing modern slavery

The Rights Lab at Nottingham University uses satellite imagery to help it delve into the secretive world of forced labour.

It most recently used CubeSat imagery to map the makeshift camps of Bangladeshi fruit pickers in Greece.

"We can see how these informal settlements are changing through time," says Professor Doreen Boyd, who is leading the project.

4: Clearing up space junk

Russia recently caused international outrage when it fired a missile at one of its old spy satellites, sending thousands of pieces of debris spinning out into low-Earth orbit.

Global networks track nearly 30,000 pieces of space junk as they journey around Earth, from defunct satellites to rocket stages. However, there's far more debris that's too small to be tracked but is big enough to threaten satellites or astronauts on board spacecraft.

There are lots of issues around clearing up space junk, not least working out which bit of engineering belongs to which nation. However, scientists are one step closer to solving the practical issue of how to catch an object speeding through space thanks to CubeSats. They are using them to replicate rubbish in experiments in space.

5: Fixing wind turbines

There are several fleets of CubeSats working together above our heads to provide a low-cost 'internet of things'. This network connects people to objects tagged with sensors in remote locations all around the world.

Some farmers use sensors to keep an eye on water levels in far flung animal troughs or storage towers, saving them having to check in person.

They can even be used to make renewable energy more efficient. Wind turbines are generally visited twice a year for maintenance, so if a blade is damaged, it can be months before it's discovered and fixed.

6: Exploring deep space

While most CubeSats look inwards towards Earth, a handful are being pointed towards the stars.

In 2018, Nasa launched the first CubeSats into deep space. MarCO-A and B relayed vital information back from the Insight Lander as it descended on to Mars.