virtual satellites

DARPA is not afraid to drop huge amounts of money on projects that sound pretty far out at times. DARPA’s most recent project has it spending $32M dollars to develop technology to allow for a virtual satellite network.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is predicting that in the future "virtual satellites" circling the globe will peer down on enemy forces. Instead of one expensive 10,000-pound spacecraft, the spy camera will float alone, unattached to other components. The onboard processor and communications node, for example, will orbit nearby and the three building blocks in this system will be linked wirelessly.