Well, with 200kg to play with, I'm wondering if Spacex won't let several cheap customers (like AMSAT and universities) partner up and cram several cubesats into ppods (or whatever they call them) for simultaneous release? Otherwise perhaps it's time to investigate satellite "ride shares" and share the spacecraft platform itself with other customers?
--Roy K3RLD
Greg, One million dollars is still an awful lot of money. Given the almost mythical status of the "cheap ham" where are we going to come up with that kind of cash? John
What happens is companies like Tyvak, Spaceflight, etc will purchase chunks of mass and act as aggregators for smaller missions. I'll remind the list readers that we flew on two paid rideshare launches with Spaceflight already with AO-92 and AO-95, and on two NASA sponsored (read this as free) launches with AO-85 and AO-91, with another coming soon for Fox-1E. Golf-TEE and Golf-1 have also been approved for as of yet undisclosed NASA sponsored launches.
Finding LEO launches in general is not a problem. Launches above 600km are difficult, but it is more due to orbital debris mitigation requirements. In general without propulsion or a -proven- deorbit device (of which there are currently none approved by FCC) you don't go above about 600km. Disposal orbits are a possibility, but as a very very small rideshare, you don't get to pick the destination, and so far we haven't found anyone going to a disposal orbit who will take us along.
It doesn't get publicized, but several AMSAT officers are engaged on a weekly basis with various launch providers, aggregators, and satellite hardware providers, and the goal is always a launch or payload accommodation above that 600km orbit. It's too early to announce anything yet, but we are making headway, and picking up a lot of missions to fly our cubesat radio system developed out of the Fox-1E project. Huskysat-1 launches this fall and will carry one of these radios, providing a 30 kHz wide V/u transponder for hams to use. Several others are in the works, but too early to announce at this point.
73, Drew KO4MA AMSAT VP Operations
-----Original Message----- From: AMSAT-BB [email protected] On Behalf Of Roy Dean via AMSAT-BB Sent: Thursday, August 29, 2019 3:00 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] SpaceX SmallSat Rideshare Program
Well, with 200kg to play with, I'm wondering if Spacex won't let several cheap customers (like AMSAT and universities) partner up and cram several cubesats into ppods (or whatever they call them) for simultaneous release? Otherwise perhaps it's time to investigate satellite "ride shares" and share the spacecraft platform itself with other customers?
--Roy K3RLD
Greg, One million dollars is still an awful lot of money. Given the almost mythical status of the "cheap ham" where are we going to come up with that kind of cash? John
_______________________________________________ Sent via [email protected] AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
The NASA ELaNa program will purchase some of that too when they have missions requesting that type of orbit, and their cost for that essentially gets spread out over the number of U(kg) they manifest on the launch. The 200kg probably includes the dispenser apparatus as well, I don't know what the mass of a "typical" ESPA type adapter is. I would expect that the cost per kg to customers will be the $1M plus the adapter "stuff" plus the "integration handling cost" and come out to be maybe a little below what the going price is now.
The difference or big perk would be not having to wait or accommodate the primary payload schedule where it may happen too soon or it may happen years later than you thought, and the "rebooking option/fee" which is probably a pretty marketable thing given the number of CubeSat projects that have trouble making the deadline. I don't suppose that they would market that if they didn't see the need.
My two cents just to expand on what Drew said, not an official claim to know anything about what I said. :-)
Jerry Buxton, NØJY
On 8/29/2019 14:55, Andrew Glasbrenner via AMSAT-BB wrote:
What happens is companies like Tyvak, Spaceflight, etc will purchase chunks of mass and act as aggregators for smaller missions. I'll remind the list readers that we flew on two paid rideshare launches with Spaceflight already with AO-92 and AO-95, and on two NASA sponsored (read this as free) launches with AO-85 and AO-91, with another coming soon for Fox-1E. Golf-TEE and Golf-1 have also been approved for as of yet undisclosed NASA sponsored launches.
Finding LEO launches in general is not a problem. Launches above 600km are difficult, but it is more due to orbital debris mitigation requirements. In general without propulsion or a -proven- deorbit device (of which there are currently none approved by FCC) you don't go above about 600km. Disposal orbits are a possibility, but as a very very small rideshare, you don't get to pick the destination, and so far we haven't found anyone going to a disposal orbit who will take us along.
It doesn't get publicized, but several AMSAT officers are engaged on a weekly basis with various launch providers, aggregators, and satellite hardware providers, and the goal is always a launch or payload accommodation above that 600km orbit. It's too early to announce anything yet, but we are making headway, and picking up a lot of missions to fly our cubesat radio system developed out of the Fox-1E project. Huskysat-1 launches this fall and will carry one of these radios, providing a 30 kHz wide V/u transponder for hams to use. Several others are in the works, but too early to announce at this point.
73, Drew KO4MA AMSAT VP Operations
-----Original Message----- From: AMSAT-BB [email protected] On Behalf Of Roy Dean via AMSAT-BB Sent: Thursday, August 29, 2019 3:00 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] SpaceX SmallSat Rideshare Program
Well, with 200kg to play with, I'm wondering if Spacex won't let several cheap customers (like AMSAT and universities) partner up and cram several cubesats into ppods (or whatever they call them) for simultaneous release? Otherwise perhaps it's time to investigate satellite "ride shares" and share the spacecraft platform itself with other customers?
--Roy K3RLD
Greg, One million dollars is still an awful lot of money. Given the almost mythical status of the "cheap ham" where are we going to come up with that kind of cash? John
Sent via [email protected] AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Sent via [email protected] AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
-
Andrew Glasbrenner -
Jerry Buxton -
Roy Dean