On Tue, 20 Feb 2001, Phillip H. Zakas wrote:
if this is true ($100K to launch) I'd help defray some of this cost just as a mechanism to distribute/manage my own keys. but i suspect the satellite itself is pretty expensive. when I looked into this a few years back the annual management of a satellite was about $250K. I assume it's less
The $100K is predicated upon access to surplus NASA and aerospace parts and having in hand the necessary testing facilities. This last one is the killer. You are aware that the failure last year of the amateur race to orbit was one of funding in all three cases? You should definitely look into the cost analysis of those projects. I'd suggest you contact Reaction Research Society as well, http://www.rrs.org $250K? Look into 'OSCAR' and 'can-sat', there's a link on /. about can-sat currently . A cell phone repeater with a 100W linear is sufficient. Surplus cell transceivers are under $100. A PC-104 controller running Plan 9 (or Linux if you're a conservative). Packet is much cheaper and it's reliable. The project I've been working on is spun mirror telescope primaries, the weight savings is incredible over glass. My goal is to put up a PC-104 running packet radio broadcasting one-way a view of the ground directly 'down'. I'm working up up to a larger effort. If you ever get around to acting upon this please consider me for your project. ____________________________________________________________________ Before a larger group can see the virtue of an idea, a smaller group must first understand it. "Stranger Suns" George Zebrowski The Armadillo Group ,::////;::-. James Choate Austin, Tx /:'///// ``::>/|/ ravage@ssz.com www.ssz.com .', |||| `/( e\ 512-451-7087 -====~~mm-'`-```-mm --'- --------------------------------------------------------------------