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Orbit Your Own Satellite For $8,000
RobGoldsmith sends word of Interorbital's TubeSat Personal Satellite Kit, which allows anyone to send a half-pound payload to low-earth orbit for $8,000. Your satellite will fly to orbit from Tonga atop an Interorbital Systems NEPTUNE 30 rocket along with 31 other TubeSats. It will function for several weeks, then its orbit will decay and it will burn up in the atmosphere. Interorbital plans to send up a load of 32 TubeSats every month. If you pay in full in advance, you get slotted onto a particular scheduled launch. Here are Interorbital's product page and brochure (PDF).
A big new trend for "burials in space".
No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism. - Winston Churchill
Low earth orbit is above the law, literally, isn't it? Send up a few gigabytes of flash memory and a transmitter. Torrents from space!
The sign that a technology has really matured enough to be taken seriously is when it starts to have commercial applications. Moreover, the presence of businesses like this will help provide further incentive for the improvement of space related technologies.
However, it isn't clear to me who would use a half-pound satellite that can only last a few weeks. TFA lists the following possible applications:
Earth-from-space video imaging. Earth magnetic field measurement. Satellite orientation detection (horizon sensor, gyros, accelerometers, etc.). Orbital environment measurements (temperature, pressure, radiation, etc.). On-orbit hardware and software component testing (microprocessors, etc.). Tracking migratory animals from orbit. Testing satellite stabilization methods. Biological experiments. On-orbit advertising. Private e-mail
Honestly, I don't see much use of most of those as a general use. Certainly scientists will benefit from this sort of technology but I doubt anyone would try to use this for private e-mail systems. You would just use the internet and encrypt your stuff. The idea of using this sort of thing for low cost climate and weather data gathering is interesting. I suspect that as with many technologies, new uses will be developed that we cannot easily anticipate now that the technology is still young.
I understand that the volume is currently small, but they are commercializing the burn-up of potentially hazardous material in earth atmosphere. Circuit boards contain many things that shouldn't be burned. I hope that they screen for hazardous material that shouldn't be put into the atmosphere.
32 satellites at $8K each is only $256,000. Subtract the cost of the materials used to build the satellites. (I'm assuming they're not using class S parts, but solar panels, etc still ain't cheap.) They're seriously planning to deploy a working delivery system to space for that kind of money?
- Can I put a 1/2 pound of magnesium up there?
- How about a 1/2 pound of liquid oxy-acetylene?
- Where'd I put my AOL CD collection?
It would be fun if they just set up a space dock you could stand on and throw shit into the atmosphere to see what happens.
Gravity guns are science fiction, but laser brooms could bring down space junk. You fire a laser into space from the earth, and any space junk in its path gets partially ablated, which thrusts it into a more eccentric orbit, which increases atmospheric drag and makes its orbit decay faster.
How many high pressure CO2 cartridges can you fit in one of those, and would they provide enough thrust to get your device out of earth's orbit? Maybe stick it in a figure 8 orbital pattern between the moon and earth, or shoot it off towards Mars. I would imagine you need substantially less thrust to break from earth's orbit for a lowly half-pound payload than say, a space shuttle, not to mention, the pressure differential is substantially greater.
moox. for a new generation.
It says you can link up to four together at a time. I guess the first unit would have the antennas, thrusters and deployment, with up to three separate payloads.
moox. for a new generation.
Hmm... I think there's some cheaper "memorable" options out there.
Option 1 (Daddy is Forever)
~1000USD to be cremated and then ~8,000USD** to be pressed into a half-carat loose diamond.
Option 2 (Daddy was an Astronaut-Burnt-Up-on-Reentry)
~1000USD to be cremated and then ~8000USD to be shot into space.
**ashes to diamonds
greed@All_Evils:~#
There are numerous stories about people using existing satellites covertly to do this. Apparently many older communications birds, including TV satellites, are more or less dumb repeaters with directional antennas. With the right equipment and during the right time windows, it's possible to start your own personal little TV station or broadcast. I don't have any links but some searching should turn up an article or two.
What a neat way to propose. I can see it now... "Honey, let's see what's on the HAM radio tonight. Oh! Listen to this, it's for you."
Check out Chad's News
Antennas covered:
Just buy a tape measure, that will snap out in a heart beat, to the right length for transmitting and should have very minimal weight.
Server covered:
somewhere in slashdot, there is a report of a full server on a 2" x 2" x 2" cube ( I think that's the size )
Deployment covered:
spring loaded like a jack in the box
thruster and guidance: got an idea
Electrodynamic tether using fishing line specifically fireline or spiderwire or spectra , if the tether can make the juice we have a chance at a small lightweight gyro and some sort of electric thrust
I know that I have exceeded 2 lbs, but this is slashdot, someone can reduce the weight.
if you see me, smile and say hello.
One wonders about this. To orbit some AD HOC electronics package does not sound like a very good idea to me! At the very least, the packages would need to pass stringent EMI/EMC testing, the likes of which would undoubtedly cost more than $8k alone!
Mind you, would be great for making annoying messages to broadcast down upon unsuspecting populations. (I am sure I could easily build a low power TV transmitter + annoying several hours of program material (set to repeat) in less than 220 grams!) (how many 50 gram 4 gig MPEG players are around that would suffice for just the program material!)