Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Startup Helps You Build Your Very Own Picosatellite On a Budget

Posted by samzenpus on from the to-infinty-and-beyond dept.

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.

2 of 21 comments (clear)

  1. Space junk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    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.

    1. Re:Space junk by morgauxo · · Score: 2

      "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.