The proliferation of micro-satellites is just the start. USAF journals like High Frontier [5/1, PDF] are already talking about nano-satellites, or in civilian parlance "CubeSats." Their effects could be profound, and will be felt in many ways. San Jose's Good Morning Silicon Valley covers an Institute for the Future project called The Signtific Lab. The premise, which you're invited to discuss and build on, is:
"...in 2019, cubesats - space satellites smaller than a shoebox - have become very cheap and very popular. For $100, anyone can put a customized personal satellite into low-earth orbit. And space data transfer protocols developed by the Interstellar Internet Project provide a basic relay backbone linking low-powered cubesats with ground stations, and with each other. Space is open.... What will you do when space is as cheap and accessible as the Web is today?"
You're welcome to participate. The exercise is open until end of day on Match 12/09, and readers can sign up to play "positive imagination" [see example] or "dark imagination" [see example] cards, or supplement existing cards with an "antagonism" card (disagree), a "momentum" card (and then what?), an "adaptation" card (introduce a twist), or an "investigation" card (follow-up questions). Remember, as the IFTF reminds participants:
"Your forecasts don't have to be probable. They just have to be possible."