News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on So, you want to build a CubeSat?.

Re:So, you want to build a CubeSat? by 0xdeadbeefbabe on Tuesday July 30, 2019 @11:55AM (#20566092)
Why build it if the cost is 10K+ to deploy?
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:So, you want to build a CubeSat? by marshall_law on Tuesday July 30, 2019 @03:20PM (#20568211)
10 years ago the cheapest launch options were in the $1-10M, and that's if you could even find a secondary / ride-along deployment. most satellite launches then would simply purchase a whole rocket, on order of $100s of M.

While this isn't consumer pricing yet, the orders of magnitude cost decrease because of lower cost / smaller satellites have made this much more accessible, and it's only going to continue as launch costs come down.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:So, you want to build a CubeSat? by blach on Tuesday July 30, 2019 @12:45PM (#20566617)
There are starting to be some lower cost options. A recent Kickstarter promised a ~$250 price point for a Femtosat/Sprite size craft launched as a rideshare inside a 3U Cubesat: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ambasat/ambasat-1-an-ed... (not speaking to the likelihood of it actually launching, just that it is purportedly an option)
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:So, you want to build a CubeSat? by reaperducer on Tuesday July 30, 2019 @01:52PM (#20567337)
Why build it if the cost is 10K+ to deploy?

"Why build a computer if it costs $10K+ for a special room?"- 1960's naysayers.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:So, you want to build a CubeSat? by tectonic on Tuesday July 30, 2019 @11:56AM (#20566106)
...it's really not that expensive anymore. https://space.stackexchange.com/questions/20009/cubesat-laun...
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:So, you want to build a CubeSat? by sfkdjf9j3j on Tuesday July 30, 2019 @12:00PM (#20566153)
According to your link the price is more like $100k+
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:So, you want to build a CubeSat? by tectonic on Tuesday July 30, 2019 @12:07PM (#20566223)
The point is that a launch cost of $100k is totally manageable by a startup, which is very different than a decade ago.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:So, you want to build a CubeSat? by craftyguy on Tuesday July 30, 2019 @12:16PM (#20566317)
The point is that $100k > $10k, so stating that "it's really not that expensive anymore" is false.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:So, you want to build a CubeSat? by 0xdeadbeefbabe on Tuesday July 30, 2019 @12:03PM (#20566186)
https://spaceflight.com/schedule-pricing/#pricing seemed like a great deal till I saw "Pricing in thousands (USD)"
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:So, you want to build a CubeSat? by echelon on Tuesday July 30, 2019 @12:16PM (#20566321)
You're not the primary audience for this (yet).

This orders of magnitude cheaper than it used to be and will enable a broad wealth of new startups and applications in LEO. It's nothing short of a revolution.

[ Parent | on HN ]