So, you want to build a CubeSat?(orbitalindex.com)
orbitalindex.com
So, you want to build a CubeSat?
https://orbitalindex.com/archive/2019-07-30-Issue-23/
69 comments
LSF FTW! :)
Great to see the SatNOGS network going from strength to strength!
Great to see the SatNOGS network going from strength to strength!
We couldn't do it without our awesome community
Any Cubesat forum/board you would recommend? I joined the Cubesat.org mailing list but it's very quiet.
We have a forum at https://community.libre.space most threads are about SatNOGS (our global satellite ground-station network) but there are several people from Cubesat teams that are hanging around there from time to time
I also follow AMSAT-BB here to keep track of radio amateur activity in space https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
I also follow AMSAT-BB here to keep track of radio amateur activity in space https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
go LSF! are y'all attending SmallSat this year? the Kubos team would love to meet up if so :))
Sadly no.
But if you attend the ARRL/TAPR DCC conference there will be a four hour workshop on SatNOGS for the Sunday Seminar. :)
But if you attend the ARRL/TAPR DCC conference there will be a four hour workshop on SatNOGS for the Sunday Seminar. :)
I highly recommend subscribing to The Orbital Index newsletter. One of the 3 newsletters that I actually read every week. It's (almost) completely outside my profession but very interesting to read nonetheless.
what are the other 2?
Not op, but The Prepared is great if you have any interest in manufacturing, supply chains, and modern infrastructure.
https://theprepared.org/
https://theprepared.org/
One half of Orbital Index here… I highly recommend The Prepared as well. I happen to be guest editing it next month while the normal writer is on paternity leave, so I might be biased (but also a longtime happy reader :-).
Benedict's Newsletter (https://www.ben-evans.com/newsletter) is also one I find interesting, a collection of posts related to "tech and thought"
Matt Levine, Money Stuff
1. Already mentioned Benedict's Newsletter (https://www.ben-evans.com/newsletter)
2. James Clear's (https://jamesclear.com/newsletter), author of the Atomic Habits, which is a fantastic book about... habits (https://jamesclear.com/atomic-habits)
Both are no-bullshit and consistently provide value.
2. James Clear's (https://jamesclear.com/newsletter), author of the Atomic Habits, which is a fantastic book about... habits (https://jamesclear.com/atomic-habits)
Both are no-bullshit and consistently provide value.
Not op, but I find Julia Evans' programming wizardry comics, which she sends out each Saturday, to be fun and educational!
https://wizardzines.com/saturday-comics/
https://wizardzines.com/saturday-comics/
've been a subscriber for some time and they are great. No junk, no ads, no pitches, just news.
Not sure why they don't advertise the RSS Feed:
https://orbitalindex.com/feed.xml
https://orbitalindex.com/feed.xml
@tectonic: thanks for including mention of our website/resources in this newsletter! Looking forward to meeting next week at SmallSat :)
If you're interested in understanding the state of the global space supply chain, check us out [1]. We're working on digitalizing the entire global marketplace and CubeSats are a huge part of the on-going commoditization within the sector. Kinda like "Octopart for space".
The supplier ecosystem is really a lot larger than people think (including myself until we started this project). There are some legacy and strategic reasons for "hidden hubs".
The supply chain is undergoing a lot of change, as organizations try to figure out how to not stay hidden and instead ride the on-going growth wave through international business/projects.
[1] https://satsearch.co
If you're interested in understanding the state of the global space supply chain, check us out [1]. We're working on digitalizing the entire global marketplace and CubeSats are a huge part of the on-going commoditization within the sector. Kinda like "Octopart for space".
The supplier ecosystem is really a lot larger than people think (including myself until we started this project). There are some legacy and strategic reasons for "hidden hubs".
The supply chain is undergoing a lot of change, as organizations try to figure out how to not stay hidden and instead ride the on-going growth wave through international business/projects.
[1] https://satsearch.co
How effective is an internet connection from a CubeSat?
I'm curious, I've read about radio comm and this article mentions using the GlobalSat or Iridium network is possible, but would that (or any other option) be a "broadband bandwith" available to whatever software is running on the CubeSat?
I'm curious, I've read about radio comm and this article mentions using the GlobalSat or Iridium network is possible, but would that (or any other option) be a "broadband bandwith" available to whatever software is running on the CubeSat?
IDK what speed you should expect, but Amazon's ground station solution should at least increase availability: https://aws.amazon.com/ground-station/
For the radio & antenna you'll probably have on a small CubeSat, expect slow and unreliable, but it depends on if you're running your own ground station, in which case you may only be able to communicate for minutes a day or less, or are using a large ground station network or satellite constellation like Iridium, which will still be slow, but will offer much more frequent communication opportunities.
Here is a slow scan TV signal I picked up from the ISS one day when I was farting around with nothing better else to do.
https://streamable.com/q9oa0
https://streamable.com/q9oa0
That is so cool!
It's relatively easy (emphasis on relatively) to use a RF module similar to what you'd get for $20 on Sparkfun or Adafruit and get dial-up levels of performance without needing to invest in a crazy ground station. You'd be limited on when you can downlink. I would imagine that for higher bandwidth communications (like enough for realtime video) you'd need to worry about radio licensing.
Now I want to build a CubeSat that will point a laser pointer at different population centers as it passes around the earth. E.g. this pass of North America you choose LA, then NYC, then Houston, then Chicago... so you can see it streak by in the sky.
My rough estimation is you could create a spot 2 miles across with a standard laser pointer at 400 miles high. Maybe you could use a different kind that would have a little more spread. And you'd have even more if you weren't beaming directly downwards -- maybe you could point it at 45 degrees or more with a powerful laser and get nice coverage.
My rough estimation is you could create a spot 2 miles across with a standard laser pointer at 400 miles high. Maybe you could use a different kind that would have a little more spread. And you'd have even more if you weren't beaming directly downwards -- maybe you could point it at 45 degrees or more with a powerful laser and get nice coverage.
You don't need a laser pointer. All you need to do is reflect sunlight. There was a recent attempt to deploy a cubesat that would become the brightest object in the night sky (besides the Moon), simply by deploying some white fabric. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on your opinion (I lean toward the latter), it failed to fully deploy. http://spaceflight101.com/soyuz-kanopus-v-ik/mayak-lighthous...
Many satellites are visible to the naked eye; some even brighter than the stars. If you want to see them, heavens-above.org is a great place to find out when to look. https://heavens-above.com/PassSummary.aspx?satid=42830
Many satellites are visible to the naked eye; some even brighter than the stars. If you want to see them, heavens-above.org is a great place to find out when to look. https://heavens-above.com/PassSummary.aspx?satid=42830
> Many satellites are visible to the naked eye; some even brighter than the stars.
And if you want to see an absolute cornucopia of satellites, grab a pair of binoculars, and look straight up, an hour or two after sunset.
You'll see faint little lights, crossing your field of vision, to and fro, on a very regular basis.
And if you want to see an absolute cornucopia of satellites, grab a pair of binoculars, and look straight up, an hour or two after sunset.
You'll see faint little lights, crossing your field of vision, to and fro, on a very regular basis.
> Many satellites are visible to the naked eye; some even brighter than the stars. If you want to see them, heavens-above.org is a great place to find out when to look. https://heavens-above.com/PassSummary.aspx?satid=42830
Interesting link. Another interesting one is https://spotthestation.nasa.gov about the ISS, which is probably the most visible to the naked eye.
Interesting link. Another interesting one is https://spotthestation.nasa.gov about the ISS, which is probably the most visible to the naked eye.
cool idea for ten minutes but this is exactly the kind of pollution I don't want from cheaper satellites
I guess this is the space equivalent of when Clark Griswold's redneck cousin Eddie comes into town.
Move over, high falutin' space types! I want a laser pointer pointing at my house every night!
Move over, high falutin' space types! I want a laser pointer pointing at my house every night!
For a while I thought you would need too much energy, then I realized I don't know well enough the physics of how a laser works.
[Warning, very stupid idea ahead]: Since I don't know well enough the topic, why wouldn't be possible to use a satellite to collect solar energy (because outside the atmosphere you can collect ~40% more (edited) the solar energy due to lack of atmospheric filtering effect),and then transmit that energy back to earth via some sort of wireless energy distribution mechanism (laser?). I guess a YoYo satellite with real tens of KM of wire to earth has a lot of reasons for not be feasible.
[Warning, very stupid idea ahead]: Since I don't know well enough the topic, why wouldn't be possible to use a satellite to collect solar energy (because outside the atmosphere you can collect ~40% more (edited) the solar energy due to lack of atmospheric filtering effect),and then transmit that energy back to earth via some sort of wireless energy distribution mechanism (laser?). I guess a YoYo satellite with real tens of KM of wire to earth has a lot of reasons for not be feasible.
It's not 40x more, it's barely 40% more. [1]
> Average annual solar radiation arriving at the top of the Earth's atmosphere is roughly 1361 W/m^2. The Sun's rays are attenuated as they pass through the atmosphere, leaving maximum normal surface irradiance at approximately 1000 W /m^2 at sea level on a clear day.
There are practical challenges, but otherwise, yes, it should work.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_irradiance#Irradiance_on...
> Average annual solar radiation arriving at the top of the Earth's atmosphere is roughly 1361 W/m^2. The Sun's rays are attenuated as they pass through the atmosphere, leaving maximum normal surface irradiance at approximately 1000 W /m^2 at sea level on a clear day.
There are practical challenges, but otherwise, yes, it should work.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_irradiance#Irradiance_on...
Thank you for the pointer! I've updated the original comment, and my knowledge base too :)
It's actually not a terrible idea and it's been considered in depth before: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space-based_solar_power.
Like so many things it's got a few unsolved technical difficulties thought that make it not-quite feasible.
Like so many things it's got a few unsolved technical difficulties thought that make it not-quite feasible.
Search "Solar power satellites". Lots of research, some unsolved problems, downlink is typically microwaves to a rectenna.
I think its not that crazy an idea. The biggest issue ( based on my very limited knowledge reading online articles ), is that the transmission without a physical medium leaves a lot to be desired. Secondly, waste heat disposal is enough of a problem in space, but when your craft is designed to accept as much radiation as possible, it becomes even more so.
I do think that its certainly going to be one of the ways humanity powers themselves going into the future. As our power needs increase, we will inevitably look to more efficently use the power eminating from our star and one of the first steps in doing that is by harnessing it without the atmospheric effects.
I do think that its certainly going to be one of the ways humanity powers themselves going into the future. As our power needs increase, we will inevitably look to more efficently use the power eminating from our star and one of the first steps in doing that is by harnessing it without the atmospheric effects.
Maybe check out the lasercube for a laser you can program
https://wickedlasers.com/cube
This is an awesome post and I love the external links given. I've been reading a lot of satellite engineering books and resources lately but they're unfortunately mainly geared for much larger missions. This article, and really most cubeSat info, is really useful for the amatures like myself.
I am almost finished working my way through the book "Building High Integrity Applications with SPARK"[1].
I dropped Rust and found SPARK easier to work with, and one of the book's authors is a professor at Vermont Technical College (VTC) in the CubeSat Laboratory[2] where Ada/SPARK are used.
The book is a great way to get exposed to a lot of subjects around high integrity, secure software. Highly recommended.
[1] https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/building-high-integrity...
[2] http://cubesatlab.org/
I dropped Rust and found SPARK easier to work with, and one of the book's authors is a professor at Vermont Technical College (VTC) in the CubeSat Laboratory[2] where Ada/SPARK are used.
The book is a great way to get exposed to a lot of subjects around high integrity, secure software. Highly recommended.
[1] https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/building-high-integrity...
[2] http://cubesatlab.org/
What are some ways that an individual person could benefit from their own CubeSat?
For the average person, probably not much; The main blocker will be that it costs about $10k to build, $20k to have it launched into space (USD).
Adjusted for inflation that is not too much different from buying a couple of Apple Macintosh computers in 1984.
Honestly, I might start saving for a few years and actually do it. It sounds like a thing that would be awesome to do and more so, a good experience in general.
Would there be any restrictions for people not living in the USA?
Would there be any restrictions for people not living in the USA?
To my knowledge, you have to check with the space agency of your country, they probably know more too.
The interesting challenge would be when the first cubesats launched by private persons reach the moon and send back a picture of earth rise.
From what I can tell, cubesats might be able to get ride-alongs on future launches towards the moon, so that is basically what this challenge would be hinging on.
You'd have to figure out long distance communication, a simple LoRa module won't cut it. Your power needs to handle 3 days of travel, possibly without power until the sat gets deployed and sees the sun for the first time.
You'd have to figure out how to orient and point a camera outside the stronger parts of the earth's magnetic field (commonly cubesats seem to rely on magnets to orient themselves).
Then you'd have to bring a camera with decent quality and that works in vacuum along, snap a picture or ten and finally send them back.
It would be awesome if I, as a private person, could organize and launch that.
From what I can tell, cubesats might be able to get ride-alongs on future launches towards the moon, so that is basically what this challenge would be hinging on.
You'd have to figure out long distance communication, a simple LoRa module won't cut it. Your power needs to handle 3 days of travel, possibly without power until the sat gets deployed and sees the sun for the first time.
You'd have to figure out how to orient and point a camera outside the stronger parts of the earth's magnetic field (commonly cubesats seem to rely on magnets to orient themselves).
Then you'd have to bring a camera with decent quality and that works in vacuum along, snap a picture or ten and finally send them back.
It would be awesome if I, as a private person, could organize and launch that.
I had this thought, why not build a small rifled tube with an explosive charge and bullet like projectile.
The projectile has a rocket motor too.
Get the cannon as high as possible with a balloon.
At the limit, the cannon fires the projectile at high velocity. The rocket motor ignites giving the extra velocity.
Do you think it could reach escape velocity?
IANARS (I am not a rocket scientist)
The projectile has a rocket motor too.
Get the cannon as high as possible with a balloon.
At the limit, the cannon fires the projectile at high velocity. The rocket motor ignites giving the extra velocity.
Do you think it could reach escape velocity?
IANARS (I am not a rocket scientist)
Air launch to orbit has been explored a bit, although mostly by launching from aircraft to get more horizontal velocity— the hardest part of getting to orbit isn't getting high enough, it's going fast enough horizontally that you don't fall down to earth.
That's how the Pegasus rocket launches, as well as some rockets currently under development by companies like Virgin and Stratolaunch
That's how the Pegasus rocket launches, as well as some rockets currently under development by companies like Virgin and Stratolaunch
Satellites contain parts and joints that don't want to see a 10^5 m/s^2 acceleration.
The last guy that tried this was murdered by Sadaam.
Most people underestimate the speed required to obtain a reasonable orbit, and the amount of tube required to accelerate an object to that speed.
Most people underestimate the speed required to obtain a reasonable orbit, and the amount of tube required to accelerate an object to that speed.
He worked for Saddam, he was murdered by Israel or possibly Iran.
interesting. For what I remember of reading this story many years ago is that he got on the badside of Saddam for not delivering what he promised to deliver. I'll have to reread the story.
Yes but its tricky. http://alnaspaceprogram.org/gun.html
It's called a Space gun: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_gun
You also might be interested in SpinLaunch: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpinLaunch
You also might be interested in SpinLaunch: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpinLaunch
Probably not, orbit is mostly about going very very fast sideways rather than being high up.
You may be interested in Project HARP which investigated such a concept in the 1960s: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_HARP
Why build it if the cost is 10K+ to deploy?
10 years ago the cheapest launch options were in the $1-10M, and that's if you could even find a secondary / ride-along deployment. most satellite launches then would simply purchase a whole rocket, on order of $100s of M.
While this isn't consumer pricing yet, the orders of magnitude cost decrease because of lower cost / smaller satellites have made this much more accessible, and it's only going to continue as launch costs come down.
While this isn't consumer pricing yet, the orders of magnitude cost decrease because of lower cost / smaller satellites have made this much more accessible, and it's only going to continue as launch costs come down.
There are starting to be some lower cost options. A recent Kickstarter promised a ~$250 price point for a Femtosat/Sprite size craft launched as a rideshare inside a 3U Cubesat: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ambasat/ambasat-1-an-ed... (not speaking to the likelihood of it actually launching, just that it is purportedly an option)
Why build it if the cost is 10K+ to deploy?
"Why build a computer if it costs $10K+ for a special room?"- 1960's naysayers.
"Why build a computer if it costs $10K+ for a special room?"- 1960's naysayers.
...it's really not that expensive anymore. https://space.stackexchange.com/questions/20009/cubesat-laun...
According to your link the price is more like $100k+
https://spaceflight.com/schedule-pricing/#pricing seemed like a great deal till I saw "Pricing in thousands (USD)"
You're not the primary audience for this (yet).
This orders of magnitude cheaper than it used to be and will enable a broad wealth of new startups and applications in LEO. It's nothing short of a revolution.
This orders of magnitude cheaper than it used to be and will enable a broad wealth of new startups and applications in LEO. It's nothing short of a revolution.
> So, you want to build a CubeSat?
Not particularly, and even less so with this clichéd, condescending headline.
It's a meme that needs to die, why do we have to see these titles popping up in HN every month?
Not particularly, and even less so with this clichéd, condescending headline.
It's a meme that needs to die, why do we have to see these titles popping up in HN every month?
After reading your comment, I understand why people stereotype HN comments as being negative, whiney and neurotic for no reason at all.
https://libre.space
Feel also free to check our repositories at Gitlab. https://gitlab.com/librespacefoundation