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SpaceDev Auctioning Microsatellite Mission On Ebay
physicsnerd writes "SpaceDev has announced that they are auctioning a Microsatellite Mission on Ebay. From the SpaceDev Press Release: "Most earth orbiting small satellite missions can cost $25 million or more, not including the launch. To demonstrate the affordability of private space missions, SpaceDev has posted a "Buy it Now" price of $9.5 million which includes an insured launch and on-orbit insurance. The high bidder will win a spacecraft based on SpaceDev's Maneuvering and orbit Transfer Vehicle (MTV(TM)).""
Man EBay Commission is going to be $$$$$$$$$$$$ on this one....
Feels a bit like watching a webcam from space..
Comment removed based on user account deletion
I want my
I want my
I want my (MTV(TM))
sulli
RTFJ.
It's a shame Ebay had to pay $25 million, the price that most such launches cost, for using the "Buy it Now" feature without owning the patent.
You really can get anything on ebay.
User spacedev has 0 feedback and wants over 9 million for his item. He won't see me bidding on this.
I think they're going to get a few sensible bids due to Slashdot bringing this to everyones attention.
Get your own free personal location tracker
Want to buy.. Refurbished space laser to be launched into space on cheap rocket for undisclosed use.
Personal Website
Most geeks can't afford something like this -- but terrorists can. I wonder what the shipping is to Iraq or Afghanistan.
Is Paypal accepted?
Hmm.
9.5 million is affordable? For whom?!
I'm just guessing, but probably to people who would otherwise spend >$25 million for a launch.
i don't like my old sig.
This offered mission will include, but will not be limited to:
* Mission Design
* Satellite Design
* Satellite Construction
* Satellite Testing
* Payload integration into satellite
* Satellite integration into launch vehicle
* Launch of satellite
* Command and control of satellite
* De-orbiting of satellite
I get to pick the payload, but do I also get to pick where it will land? Redmond, here I come!!!!
I Am My Own Worst Enemy
They can send a payload into space for under $10 million, but they still can't fix their crappy home page design?
As luck would have it, my kids would probably get the controls and send it crashing into china, then run screaming "DADDY, WE WON!"
i can see it now, i'll place my bid and 2 seconds before the auction ends some geek will up the bid by 5 cents using some fancy auto-bid software and my plans for world domination will be foiled. again. if it wasn't for those pesky kids blah blah john ashcroft yada yada oil oil oil
All I Want For Christmas Is My Constitutional Rights
I would have bid, but I make it a policy not to bid on auctions from sellers with zero feedback. You never know who you're buying from these days.
I don't know about you, but I know what's going on the top of MY christmas list. Hell, at that price, I might get two!
Under capitalism man exploits man. Under communism it's the other way around.
For your 9 1/2 mil you get to buy up to a year's worth of time on the satellite (which hasn't even been designed yet, btw). After 60 days you can sublet your time to defray cost.
From the article:"...qualified people around the world would be able to purchase time slots on your satellite for a fee, and you would receive revenues from those sales.** With enough purchases, over a long mission life, you might have the opportunity to make some or all of your money back."
Sounds like a hell of a deal to me.
No matter how many of my rights are taken away, somehow I still don't feel safe. -Frigid Monkey
You RTFM you fool..
You control the cameras, you get to look at what you want, You can even timeshare out the camera time and use it to make money.. You can replace or put other gear beyond personnal gear as long as you pay for it.
Come on what parts of
" A satellite that you can command from the comfort of your own home or office, simply using your PC and the Internet"
OR
"Through this auction you can purchase exclusive use of an actual SpaceDev MTV(TM) satellite"
Do you not understand.. Lets repeat this "EXCLUSIVE USE"
Personal Website
So when will our friend Lance Bass be leaving?
Business \Busi"ness\, n.;
A scam in which all people involved perceive as beneficial...
Oh by the way
MTV stands for
orbital Maneuvering and orbital Transfer Vehicle
NOT the music channel you boob
Personal Website
Hmmm... I could have swore these people where at my door trick-or-treat'ing on halloween!
Imagine the fun of crashing your own personal satellite at oribital velocities into a major American city. Imagine the fun you and your towel-wearing friends could have by watching the panic as Americans everywhere worry about death from above, even though it would likely burn up in the atmosphere. Call your local madras-supporting sheik today and ask for the money! Your own orbital death-star is waiting.
"Curiosity killed the cat, but for a while I was a suspect."- Steven Wright
9.5 Million is durn cheap for a space mission. Big commmunications satellites, for example, run about $200 millions to build and launch. A cheap NASA-managed mission runs around 50 million$ or more - although SpaceDev recently did one for much cheaper based on the PI model (minimal NASA involvement), in which UC Berkeley managed the mission.
Helium balloons want to be free.
Seller information
spacedev( 0 )
Feedback rating: 0 feedback reviews
Registered Nov-07-03 in United States
Seller registered within the last week with 0 feedback??? Oh yeah - like I'm gonna buy from HIM!
The way I see it, owning (at least in part) a satellite is a lot like owning a radio station.
My uncle owns a few stations, and the scheme works like this; he buys a radio station for around $10 million (with hefty financing from a bank, of course), and arranges it so that the monthly payments on the loan are less than the monthly revenues from the radio station.
Maybe there is a similar opportunity for small business owners to have access to a satellite like this? Lord knows, I can't think of anything. How could a satellite bring in $10 million? I mean, aside from Real Genius Death Lasers and government spycams?
for great justice, this sig has been moved
I reckon there's got to be in the region of a million slashdotters here. We chuck in 20 USD each, and we've got us an orbiting camera.
Now, I can see this going one of two ways:
1) Hey, look, there's Ashcroft edging the yard! Who's your privacy daddy now, huh?
2) Hey, there's Natalie Portman in a bikini! Who's got the zoom?
I'm up for it. Who's with me?
Warning: May contain nuts
.OB denotes that the stock is traded on an Over The Counter Bulletin Board (OTC) rather than on the open market. There are any number of reasons why a company would prefer to be traded OTC. Low trading volume, inability to meet an exchange's listing requirements, (which can also be because the company does not want to abide by disclosure policies of an exchange). SpaceDev has never been kicked down to OTC from an exchange listing. They started ground up from OTC and seems like they are doing pretty damn well.
Yes, we do.
I can't tell you about the secret launch facility or the antimatter weapons. Soon all your base are belong to hippies.
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It looks like eBay is becoming a cheap way to get your company, or yourself, into the media spotlight these days. Just put something strange up for auction (satellite, your virginity, your dignity, your wife, etc.) and you're guaranteed to get coverage on all major tech websites, magazines and news shows (CNN, Time, BBC, etc. are sure to run this). The fact that they porbably won't get $9,500,000 out of it doesn't really matter. Millions more people will now know that they can build satellites for a fraction of the price NASA or ESA does.
If you don't have $9,500,000, or don't want something quite as big, look at getting your own CubeSat. Dozens of these are beign built at universities around the world. You can buy most of the parts you need and just put them together. They are launched together on one rocket, sharing the launch cost and making it even cheaper than the $9,500,00 needed for a microsatellite (CubeSats are pico satellites, 10cm x 10cm x 10cm, and weigh only 1 kg).