The ground station program is already in development and has about $400,000 of their grant left, go to ORI if you want to volunteer with that.
I think there is some gap in understanding the role of small launch vendors like Rocket Lab vs. larger ones like SpaceX. The small launch vendors market is to get a payload to a specific orbit on a very short lead-time. This is attractive to governments when they have a reason to get a spy satellite to a specific geosynchronous location. And now we have "insperctor" satellites like Kosmos 2558, which surveil other satellites and perhaps are equipped to destroy them. They don't seem to be concerned about Kessler syndrome but they are also equipped to end all life on Earth so no surprise. The Russians like to use their own rockets, the small launch market might get into this market from other countries. Unfortunately there is enough government market to support one really-small launcher and one medium launcher. The other companies will fail.
Small launch vendors are not economical if you can get a ride on a larger rocket that is heading to a known orbit when the available payload space fills up. SpaceX will loft 440 lbs to a sun-synchronous orbit for $1.1M today and if Starship/Starlifter work it would drive the price lower.
Thanks
Bruce
On Fri, Aug 12, 2022 at 9:45 AM Zach Metzinger zmetzing@pobox.com wrote:
On 8/12/22 11:27, Paul Andrews wrote:
Yes! Find a commercial GEOsat with room to support an amateur payload. Leverage commercial economics for launch and platform reliability. The commercial operator can donate (tax break) the value of the ham (STEM) capability. Maybe ham bands at 10 GHz and above. Simple bent pipe.
Enlist the help of universities with active ham clubs.
Equipment manufacturers might contribute to the program to help build an "Americas" market for GEO capable radios.
If this GEOsat capability used a hemispheric beam the coverage would be Antartica to Alaska. Wow.
Hello Paul,
Do I hear a willing volunteer to make this happen? :-)
Everything is simple to do in concept, nothing is easy to do in reality.
--- Zach N0ZGO
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