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Published online 27 April 2006 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news060424-12

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SPHERES hope to show that small is beautiful

Tiny satellite makes debut inside the space station.

A miniature satellite has arrived at the International Space Station (ISS), where it will take its first space flight in indoor comfort rather than in the harsh conditions outside the station.

Its inventors hope that the volleyball-sized probe will be the forerunner to a new generation of small satellites that can fly in formation, and possibly act as servicing robots for the ISS.

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