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Space telescopes through philanthropic support

Nature Astronomy volume 4, pages 1019–1021 (2020)Cite this article

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Philanthropic donations are a significant contribution to the betterment of humankind, with a large percentage dedicated to science and education. Affordable small satellites may offer philanthropists the opportunity to give students and underprivileged communities access to small space telescopes.

Philanthropy, from the Greek φιλία (philia: love, affection) + ἅνθρωπος (anthrōpos: humankind), means benevolence to society. Philanthropy is deeply rooted in our society and has evolved through time. In ancient Greece, it was used to foster the progress of knowledge with Aristotle and Pluto’s Academy. Today’s charitable activities are dedicated to causes such as poverty alleviation, education, social services, global health, arts and culture. More than 150 billionaires have committed worldwide to donate over half their wealth to philanthropy by signing the Giving Pledge. In the United States alone, the cumulative amount of donations in 2018 was a staggering US$428 billion.

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Fig. 1: Telescope developed for small satellites.

Thales Alenia Space.

References

  1. Tuthill, P. et al. Proc. SPIE 10701, 107011J (2018).

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  2. Global Education Monitoring Report: Migration, Displacement and Education (UNESCO, 2018).

  3. CubeSat Design Specification Rev. 13 (Cal Poly SLO, 2015).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. European Space Agency, Noordwijk, the Netherlands

    Luca Maresi & Alessandro Zuccaro Marchi

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  1. Luca Maresi
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  2. Alessandro Zuccaro Marchi
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Correspondence to Luca Maresi or Alessandro Zuccaro Marchi.

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Maresi, L., Zuccaro Marchi, A. Space telescopes through philanthropic support. Nat Astron 4, 1019–1021 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-020-1128-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-020-1128-x

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