Montpellier's Space Center and nanosatellite program receives support from the Van Allen Foundation so students can collaborate with researchers and industry professionals to build the miniature devices. The student-built nanosatellites cost up to 300,000 euros ($340,000) each, in contrast to large satellites that go for hundreds of millions.Ĭommercial nanosatellite developers and manufacturers include Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd., a spinoff of the British University of Surrey, and California's Planet Labs Inc. Sometimes it pays to be small: At a tenth of the cost of their larger counterparts, nanosatellites from the University of Montpellier weigh as little as a kilogram and can reach otherwise inaccessible places. Aircraft companies including Cessna and Eclipse, both in the United States, and Brazil's Embraer have released small jet aircraft onto the market. Many companies are working on similar models, but few have begun making deliveries. It requires no more than a 600-metre grass airstrip to take off. The plane's glass cockpit fits a single pilot and it flies below the normal cruising height of regional commercial altitudes. Test pilot Maciej Peikert said the company expects the jets will "commute between areas where the infrastructure is relatively poor, or between islands or in mountains." It's about the size of a car but rings up at 1.5 million euros ($1.7 million). Polish company Metal Master showcased its single-engine Flaris jet, an experimental plane that weighs just 700 kilograms (1,540 pounds), less than half of an average car. Sick of traffic-clogged commutes or island-hopping via slow ferries? Travelers may soon be able to fly their own single-seat private jet, small enough to fit in a garage. Here are five that stood out at this year's show, which runs through Sunday: These innovative ideas may change the way we travel, wage wars or explore space. Some of the coolest experimental technology showcased at this week's Paris Air Show is about thinking small - though it's easy to get distracted by the huge aircraft performing overhead, from thundering fighter jets to the surprising near-vertical liftoff of a Boeing passenger jet. LE BOURGET, France - Planes you can park in your garage.
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