Nanosatellites are coming

Imagine a shuttle launches, and…as has been the case…needs to inspect itself in flight for damage. But, instead of using a camera mounted to the vehicle’s robotic arm, it uses a different tool.

A tiny, maneuverable satellite carrying a camera—a nanosatellite. It’s no bigger than a beachball and weights less than 20 pounds.

LLRV: used hydrogen peroxide thrusters

With systems now being developed, this kind of satellite would use tiny thrusters using hydrogen peroxide as a propellant. These thrusters are more complicated than the ones normally used today—which relay on a more dangerous chemical, hydrazine.

During Apollo, the main engine used on the Service Module (which put the astronauts into lunar orbit and got them out again) used hydrazine. But the Lunar Landing Research Vehicle (LLRV), which was used on earth for astronauts to simulate practice moonlandings used hydrogen peroxide. (Neil Armstrong crashed one less than a year before he landed on the moon.)

In any case, these new thrusters for proposed nanosatellites are under development and prototypes should be ready soon. But I doubt any nanosatellite will ever inspect a flying space shuttle…because the shuttle is scheduled for retirement next year.

Instead, the first application may be for military purposes.