--- On Sat, 7/1/12, Gordon JC Pearce gordonjcp@gjcp.net wrote:
Couldn't we have a "ARISSat-1-2-3 etc. sitting on the shelf and everytime they send up a supply/crew change bring another ARISSat. Then throw it out whenever available.
I keep saying this over and over but no-one has taken me seriously yet ;-)
But there is already another ARISSat on the ground in Russia, two were shipped, also two engineering versions in the States.
However, someone has to pay what must be in excess of $150,000 to get the sat to the ISS and then get half an hour of very valuable EVA time to deploy it.
The Japanese Experiment Module Remote Manipulator System on the ISS Kibo module will be able to deploy CubeSats from the ISS without the need for a very expensive EVA. As I recall there are several amateur radio CubeSats slated for deployment by the Kibo Robot Arm later this year, see
CubeSat to use 5.8 GHz and Optical Comms http://www.uk.amsat.org/2037
73 Trevor M5AKA