GLASGOW scientists have unveiled plans for tiny spaceships that can read gas meters.

The satellites, weighing the same as a bag of sugar, can be built from off-the-shelf electronic components.They're launched by piggy-backing onto larger satellites, and use solar panels as power sources in space.

The announcement came as the world's biggest annual space conference - the International Astronautical Congress - opened at Glasgow's SECC.

University of Strathclyde scientists have teamed up with Glasgow firm Clyde Space to develop the 1kg CubeSat.

Clyde Space would like to commercially produce them, and the university team hopes to use the partnership to launch Scotland's first satellite. Scientists estimate the CubeSats will be about a thousand times cheaper than their larger counterparts.

The satellites, with sides measuring just 10cm, could also collect data from remote locations such as wind farms.

Mechanical engineer Professor Colin McInnes, who is involved in the project, said the devices could collect readings "from things like gas meters or electricity meters".

The satellites could get data from any "remote locations", he added, such as wind farms or environmental monitoring stations.

A large conventional satellite costs hundreds of millions of pounds, he said, and a CubeSat could be as cheap as £200,000.

The university researchers hope by partnering Clyde Space they will gain access to the technology that will allow them to launch Scotland's first satellite.

Prof McInnes added: "Scotland has became a major player in the space arena, and we'll be doing even more in the future."

He added the project was still at the research stage.

The group has funding for two years and they started research in July.

Clyde Space chief executive Craig Clark said: "This project is going to be a key contributor to the growth of the space industry in our country."