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Satellites on the Cheap

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the now-thats-cool dept.

An anonymous reader writes "At a cost of just $50,000 - including plane tickets to the Alaska launch site - it was constructed using off-the-shelf parts not designed to withstand the rigors of space. Its life span was only expected to be a few months. Six students put together the satellite last year after a three-year research and design project made possible with a grant from Boeing Co. The Department of Defense (news - web sites) Space Test Program approved the project and put it on a launch list"" Beats doing the egg drop.

2 of 103 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Why launch in Alaska? by egdull · · Score: 2, Insightful

    They were most likely borrowing space on someone else's booster.

    If a commercial communications sat was launching into a polar low earth orbit from a pad in Alaska, and had room, a free ride is the right price for this project. :-).

  2. Re:Why launch in Alaska? by spaceyhackerlady · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Polar orbit launches don't get much help from Earth's rotation, but they still have range safety issues: if the rocket blows up, will the wreckage land on anybody?

    The U.S. launches almost all of its polar orbit satellites from Vandenberg AFB in California. By launching to the south there are no people for a very long way, should anything go wrong. The situation is similar for Alaska.

    ...laura