University of Oslo and other institutions plan to launch 50 micro-satellites on one rocket to study the aurora and ionospheric disturbances-

"UiO has developed very small instruments that can measure micro-structures and turbulence in the plasma clouds. The instrument consists of four needles that can be mounted on satellites about the size of a milk carton. No one else has managed this.

Unfortunately, a single satellite is not enough. It takes just over an hour and a half to orbit the Earth. This is far too long. The phenomena researchers are looking for often disappear after just an hour. Therefore, it is impossible to use a single satellite to study the changes over such a short time. The researchers need a lot of satellites, which will be spread around the Earth like pearls on a strong.

Minutes between each satellite
In 2013 the universities will work together to launch 50 small satellites into a polar orbit at an altitude of 320 km above the Earth. This will allow the satellites to pass each geographical point at intervals of just a few minutes, both above the polar regions and the equator.

The satellites will lose speed due to air resistance and their Earth orbits will continuously degrade.

This will provide the researchers with an opportunity to study all layers of the ionosphere. The calculated service life is three to eight weeks, depending on solar activity, before the satellites fall into the atmosphere and burn up."

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