Ask Slashdot: How Would You Build a Microsatellite?

Dishwasha writes "A fellow co-worker of mine turned me on to CubeSat; apparently there are commercial space companies that will launch CubeSat systems from their payload for a modest fee. Is anybody in the /. community involved in amateur microsatellite systems? How would I go about getting involved at an amateur level? Are there any amateur user groups and meetups I can join? I have limited background in all the prerequisites but am eager to learn even if it takes a lifetime. Any links to design and engineering of satellites would be appreciated."

Comments

Re:Building is easy, launching is hard

[abushga]

One tried and true anti-spin method utilized with CanSats (predecessors to CubeSats, see http://www.arliss.org/ is to attach a refrigerator magnet to one end of the satellite. The 'sat will flip 180 degrees as it passes over north and south poles, but remains otherwise in stable orientation. Sometimes simple is good :-)

--
A man is rich in direct proportion
          to the number of things he can afford
                    to leave alone.
                                                                  — Thoreau