Jordi Puig-Suari Colloquium Abstract (Oct 21, 2015)

The NanoSat revolution: Observations from the front lines

CubeSats and NanoSats have created a revolution in the space industry. These miniature spacecraft are the choice for student satellites worldwide, are becoming a serious option for many missions being developed by traditional space organizations, from NASA and JPL to the Air Force and NSF and are the baseline for a growing number of start-up companies. However, 10 years ago, when the CubeSat standard was developed by a Stanford-Cal Poly team success was not guaranteed. In the talk, we will look back at the development of the CubeSat standard over the years. We will explore some of the challenges facing the development team and try to identify some of the key factors leading to the standard's success. These lessons learned translate well to other innovative projects and may help support an environment that fosters innovation and out-of-the box thinking.