Startup Helps You Build Your Very Own Picosatellite On a Budget

Zothecula writes A Glasgow-based startup is reducing the cost of access to space by offering "satellite kits" that make it easier for space enthusiasts, high schools and universities alike to build a small but functional satellite for as little as US$6,000 and then, thanks to its very small size, to launch for significantly less than the popular CubeSats.

Comments

Re:Time to build a picorocket, then.

[JWSmythe]

Shhh.. Talk like that will get the attention of DHS.

Re:Time to build a picorocket, then.

[tehcyder]

If only it was a bit easier to put 1g into orbit...

The best option seems to be to build magnetic nano-satellites and disperse them as a dust cloud over NASA rockets about to be launched. Some are bound to reach orbit.

Yeah, anyone with even basic DIY skills can knock up a cloud of magnetic nano-satellites in their kitchen over breakfast.

Space junk

[Anonymous Coward]

If your "satellite" doesn't have active maneuvering capability and the ability to either deorbit itself or move to a graveyard orbit once its mission is over, then you are launching debris. It should be regarded as a hostile act by anybody who has a proper satellite in nearby orbits.

I hope these things are only ever launched into orbits low enough that atmospheric drag kills them after a year or so.

Re:Space junk

[morgauxo]

"I hope these things are only ever launched into orbits low enough that atmospheric drag kills them after a year or so."

My understanding is these sorts of things are usually launched in orbits that give them lifetimes measured in days, maybe weeks. They are up there nowhere near a year and definitely do not become part of the long term space junk problem.

Re:Time to build a picorocket, then.

[Anonymous Coward]

You just take normal nano-satellites and insert nano-magnets into them, it's not exactly rocket science.

Re:Time to build a picorocket, then.

[ArcadeMan]

You just take normal nano-satellites and insert nano-magnets into them, it's not exactly rocket science.

It's not? I'm sorry I don't quite understand, I just had brain surgery.

my femtosatellite fleet

[ThatsDrDangerToYou]

... is already well established in the skies.

Naturally, they are invisible to the naked eye, so you should pretty much be cowering under your desk now. Yes, you, Jenkins over there, cubicle 117. We have caught you surfing /. yet again. HR has been notified.

Re:Time to build a picorocket, then.

[rossdee]

"If only it was a bit easier to put 1g into orbit..."

Pico is 10^-12 so if a normal satellite is 10,000 Kg then a picosatellite would be only 10 micrograms
While it might not take much energy to accelerate that to orbital speed in a vacuum, its not going to be easy to get it out of the atmoshere.
Its also not going to have much in the way of sensors on it.

Great, lets make money getting Kessler effect

[sinij]

Kessler effect is a real problem, putting anything into orbit, especially small and hard to track, is fundamentally bad idea.

Re:Great, lets make money getting Kessler effect

[gman003]

I really doubt they're putting these into a high enough orbit for that to be a problem. These thing will probably deorbit in less than a year.

Re:How much is the launch?

[UnderCoverPenguin]

TFA claims US$20000. It also stated that http://www.50dollarsat.info/ was launched on a Russian Dnepr-1. Presumably as one of several secondary payloads

One non-troll as I post this

[easyTree]

Really? Reverse-astroturfing FTW.