Defense giants bet big on small satellites

Major U.S. defense contractors are working to reinvent their satellite businesses to include satellites no larger than a microwave oven, as they try to keep pace with a new crop of commercial technology companies leading a wave of disruption in the space industry.

Their efforts are spearheading new investments in cube-sat technology, as the U.S. government looks for alternatives to the expensive, bus-size satellites it has relied on for decades.