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A comment on KickSat: open source spacecraft project. Parent comment

Re:KickSat: open source spacecraft project by ProblemFactory on Sunday August 28, 2016 @11:40AM (#12376928)
> I was wondering if it really was a good idea to spread so many little things in orbit

Something I've been wondering: why are all small cubesats designed as stand-alone satellites that are detached from a launcher? Why not instead build one big satellite, with shared solar panels and a deorbit engine, and sell "shelf space" for numerous small scientific modules that remain attached to it?

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Re:KickSat: open source spacecraft project by chris_va on Sunday August 28, 2016 @11:48AM (#12376962)
Most of the small sat stuff isn't for science work. Commercial entities want to reorient on demand, manage their own coms and antenna direction, etc.

What you describe is a good idea, and how most older sats work (just not modularized).

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Re:KickSat: open source spacecraft project by StephenSmith on Sunday August 28, 2016 @11:47AM (#12376958)
https://www.astrobotic.com/ is doing it for the moon.
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