Get your own satellite in to orbit

Friday, 7 August, 2009

You’ve heard of personal computers well now it’s time to own your own personal satellite. Space Fellowship has a nice story on tube satellites. For $8,000, yes $8,000 (!), you get to place your own satellite in to a decaying orbit. It last for a few weeks, but this is no toy. The kit includes the satellite’s structural components, safety hardware, solar panels, batteries, power management hardware and software, transceiver, antennas, and microcomputer and as long as it stays within the 0.75kg weight limit you can design your own experiment including, for example, remote video monitoring. Plenty of scope for some innovative amateur work here.