cubesats – Techdirt (original) (raw)

DailyDirt: Space, The Final Next Frontier…

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

The space right above our planet’s atmosphere is cluttered with human technology and space junk, and it’s getting more crowded up there all the time. Sure, the vastness of the universe is practically infinite, but there are only a few Lagrange points, and artificial satellites have started to run into traffic problems — including intentional satellite destruction that might not be quite innocuous. Wars over outer space might become a real thing in the not so distant future, if it’s not happening already.

• About 1,300 active satellites are orbiting right now, and there doesn’t seem to be much agreement on a new code of conduct for spacefaring nations. Anti-satellite weaponry has been around for about as long as artificial satellites have existed, and billions will be spent over the next few years to maintain and further develop military space programs. [url]
• The US is creating a centralized operations center for monitoring space threats such as spy and military satellites. This project will also aggregate satellite data to try to better monitor situations on the ground (or on the water) as well. Thankfully, no one is training astronauts in zero-G hand-to-hand combat…. [url]
• Is it possible to launch a satellite as an individual? Not just some weather balloon junk, but a cubesat or something that will actually orbit a few times… Yes, but it’ll cost you over $100,000 to hitch a ride on a Soyuz mission. Korean artist, Hojun Song, successfully launched a 1-kg cubesat called OSSI-1 — so if you have the resources, it can be done. And presumably, your satellite will have to be completely harmless, so you don’t start an international incident. [url]

After you’ve finished checking out those links, take a look at our Daily Deals for cool gadgets and other awesome stuff.

Filed Under: cubesats, hojun song, lagrange point, leo, ossi-1, satellites, soyuz, space, space junk, war, weapons

DailyDirt: Riding Through Space On A Beam Of Light

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

If you’re looking forward to watching The Martian movie, you probably enjoy watching rockets blast off into space and seeing big explosions. However, really long distance space travel could be much less entertaining without rockets unless you like looking at the glow of an ion thruster. Spacecraft using the momentum of light won’t even glow, but they could be part of more and more space ships. Check out a few of these projects.

• A yet-unexplained phenomenon creates propulsion when a laser hits a sheet of graphene sponge in a vacuum. A complete understanding of the momentum of light isn’t too far off, and if this kind of propulsion can be harnessed, it could make some satellites much more useful. [url]
• Microwave propulsion technologies have been tested a bit. Microwaves might also be used for energy transmission to various kinds of vehicles, but it could be a while before anyone is powering drones or satellites with microwave signals. [url]
• The Planetary Society has successfully deployed its first LightSail cubesat to test its solar sail technology before it launches another LightSail cubesat next year. This test ran into a few glitches along with way, so hopefully, they’ll work out all the bugs before the next mission. [url]
• Ikaros (Interplanetary Kite-craft Accelerated by Radiation Of the Sun) is a Japanese spacecraft that successfully used a solar sail in 2010. More solar sail spacecraft could get into space, as long as the demonstrations of the tech continue to work (and aren’t cancelled). [url]

After you’ve finished checking out those links, take a look at our Daily Deals for cool gadgets and other awesome stuff.

Filed Under: cubesats, graphene, ikaros, lightsail, microwaves, propulsion, solar sail, space, space exploration, spacecraft
Companies: planetary society

DailyDirt: Space-Based Telecommunications

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

The idea of space-based telecommunications seemed so promising in the 1980s, but the delivered services didn’t quite live up to the dream of ubiquitous global communications. Al Franken’s one-man satellite reporting didn’t really address the latency issues associated with geosynchronous satellite orbits, but the future of satellite communications was still a bad joke. Perhaps after a few decades, we’re ready for another try?

• Elon Musk’s SpaceX intends to create a constellation of 4,000 small/cheap satellites to provide high speed internet all over the world. Billionaires have tried this concept before, but maybe this time, the economics of cheaper satellites and rocket systems will make it a more feasible venture. [url]
• Iridium is the usual example of a global satellite network that was supposed to provide an always-on telecom network anywhere in the world. Iridium Next is actually set to replace the original aging Iridium satellites — launched from SpaceX rockets in the largest commercial launch contract ever signed in 2010. The original business wasn’t exactly a success, and given some of the lackluster specs of the planned replacement satellites, the next revision might not be much better. [url]
• OneWeb is looking to build around 900 satellites to deliver internet connections all over the world. If all these plans actually pan out, it’ll be a bit strange to see more competition in the satellite internet industry than in the terrestrial wireline internet business. [url]

After you’ve finished checking out those links, take a look at our Daily Deals for cool gadgets and other awesome stuff.

Filed Under: al franken, cubesats, elon musk, geosynchronous orbit, iridium next, isp, oneweb, satellites
Companies: iridium, oneweb, spacex

DailyDirt: Space Mining

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

It’s fairly common in science fiction for space mining operations to exist, but the reality is that just getting anything into space is pretty expensive — and there isn’t all that much stuff in space that needs to get re-supplied with materials. However, the legal basis for claiming ownership of space resources may be clearing up, and a few companies might actually be driving down the costs of getting a spacecraft into space. The concept of striking a literal gold mine in space might not happen, but the technology to collect resources in space might still be valuable for future space exploration.

• The House has passed a bill containing rules for space mining rights — allowing private companies to actually own whatever they manage to mine on any asteroids they find. The Space Act appears to only cover resources from asteroids, so private companies can’t claim ownership of moons, planets or planetoids or… anything else yet. [url]
• Another asteroid mining company has ambitious plans to release a fleet of cubesats to look for precious metals in asteroids in near-earth space. Even if this company succeeds in finding asteroids that contain more metal than others, it could end up being a very expensive way to get nickel and iron back to earth. [url]
• Planetary Resources Inc might not be so optimistic about extracting platinum from mining asteroids — as the company pivots to collecting water from space objects to serve as a re-fueling station to help extend the lifespans of aging satellites already in orbit. However, it’s not clear if the owners of existing satellites would ever want to pay for such a risky service. [url]

After you’ve finished checking out those links, take a look at our Daily Deals for cool gadgets and other awesome stuff.

Filed Under: asteroid mining, asteroids, cubesats, platinum, precious metals, satellites, space, space act, space exploration
Companies: deep space industries, planetary resources

Techdirt Podcast Episode 5: The Internet From Space!

from the not-so-crazy dept

This week’s episode of Techdirt Podcast is all about thinking outside the box (and the atmosphere) on the subjects of broadband and global connectivity. There have been many attempts to build practical satellite-based internet access over the years, and though so far they have all been multibillion-dollar failures, there’s still a huge amount of potential in the concept — not to mention other innovative concepts, like internet from balloons, blimps or floating platforms. This week, Mike, Hersh and Dennis discuss the past and future of such ideas, and the revolutionary disruptions that they could usher in.

If you still haven’t subscribed, you should follow us on Soundcloud, subscribe via iTunes, or simply plug the RSS feed into your favorite podcatcher app (we have a few recommendations). Of course, you can also keep up with all the latest episodes right here on Techdirt.

If you’ve already subscribed, please note: we’ve moved our podcast RSS feed to a new location — techdirt.com/podcast.xml — which will be its permanent home going forward. The old RSS feed will continue to work indefinitely, but the new address (which acts as a redirect) safeguards against disruption from any future changes to our podcast hosting setup.

Filed Under: balloons, cubesats, internet, internet access, nano satellites, nanosats, net neutrality, satellites, space

DailyDirt: DIY Space Exploration

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

The cost of getting an object into space is getting cheaper with time, so it’s not too surprising that amateurs are starting to mess around with small satellites and vehicles that reach the edge of the Earth’s atmosphere. Amateurs haven’t achieved low Earth orbit without the help of actual aerospace companies, but citizen scientists could be getting closer to doing real space science on shoestring budgets. Here are just a few space exploration projects that didn’t cost billions of taxpayer dollars.

• There are more than a handful of crowdfunded projects aiming to shoot stuff (including humans) into space. Copenhagen Suborbitals has an impressive following, but there are other amateur rocket scientists putting nano-satellites into low earth orbit and building novel thruster systems and space suits. The ability to do experiments in space has never been as accessible as it is today. [url]
• The Low Orbit Helium Assisted Navigator (LOHAN) project is launching a 3D printed rocket at an altitude of over 65,000 feet from a helium balloon. It’s a bit more complicated than most weather balloon projects, but it would need more sophisticated tech to get to the edge of space and beyond. [url]
• NASA is considering proposals to let some cubesats hitch a ride to Europa to complement its Clipper mission to Jupiter’s icy moon. Ten universities are among the finalists to get a $25,000 grant to develop their cubesat experiments. [url]

If you’d like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post via StumbleUpon.

Filed Under: crowdfunding, cubesats, diy space, europa, inexpensive space projects, leo, lohan, low orbit helium assisted navigator, satellites, space, space exploration
Companies: copenhagen suborbitals, nasa

DailyDirt: Cheaper Satellites Are Blasting Off

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket has recently demonstrated its capabilities by successfully docking with the International Space Station. It’s the first example of a private company achieving this feat, and it’s paving the way for more private space ventures. Cheaper space missions are becoming more commonplace, and here are just a few more experimental projects that are aiming to change the space race by creating a multitude of mini space missions.

• Nanoracks reportedly has the first commercial cargo flown in a SpaceX Dragon capsule. One of the commercial experiments includes components of Ardbeg whisky to determine how whisky ages in zero gravity. Maybe there are faster ways to produce aged whisky… in space? [url]
• Interplanetary CubeSats could dramatically lower the costs of space exploration in our solar system. Low Earth orbit CubeSats have already made affordable satellite experiments possible for universities as well as government space agencies, so floating a few of these satellites out beyond Earth’s reach could open up even more possibilities. [url]
• The CleanSpace One project is planning to launch satellites that can clear out space debris in the Earth’s orbit. Around 16,000 objects (>10 cm in diameter) are currently cluttering up space right above the Earth, and finding a good way to clean up this space pollution could make other space missions less risky. [url]
• To discover more links on space exploration, check out what’s floating around in StumbleUpon universe. [url]

By the way, StumbleUpon can also recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.

Filed Under: cleanspace one, cubesats, low earth orbit, rockets, satellites, space exploration, space junk, whisky
Companies: ardbeg, nanoracks, spacex

DailyDirt: Rental Space For Anything

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Money can’t buy happiness, but they say that you can try to rent it for a while. All sorts of things can be rented these days — and at fairly reasonable prices, too. There’s a pretty big real estate glut, so it looks like a bunch of places are trying to get attention with some interesting “shared space” ideas. Here are just a few rental ideas we’ve come across recently.

• Rental kitchens are like incubators for culinary startups. Warning: may contain nuts, though…. [url]
• A DIY science laboratory in NYC complies with CDC biosafety level 1 regulations. And nothing could possibly go wrong with a biohacker lab located near a major metropolitan area like NYC. [url]
• CubeSats are available for a few thousand bucks — and if you can find a spot on a rocket, you’re set to go. However, rental space on a rocket isn’t exactly easy to come by…. [url]

Filed Under: biohackers, cubesats, startups