Invited keynote address: Small satellites - the disruptive use of COTS technologies

Modern small satellites, taking advantage of the dramatic advances in commercial `off-the-shelf´ (COTS) technologies developed for the industrial and consumer markets, have developed capabilities that are rivalling their conventional large satellite counterparts but at considerably lower cost and shorter timescales to launch - fundamentally changing the approach to space, enabling wider participation in space activities and applications, and stimulating new business models.