3 ms·
Sure, the tricky part is finding funding
by losteric 11y ago
Sure, the tricky part is finding funding
- jimmcslim 11y agoYuri Milner of Breakthrough Starshot should be a contender?
- funkju 11y agoAny ideas on a ballpark of what it would cost?
- losteric 11y agoIt takes about $100k to get a cubesat into orbit, plus costs for building the sat itself (custom fabricating a miniaturized drive plus a suite of sensors). So not much, but the larger problem is we don't know how this drive works. Miniaturizing it could impact performance, as could other electronics in the satellite... given the unknowns it makes sense to let NASA do some more terrestrial due-diligence before going to space.
- mabbo 11y agoHow much funding? A Falcon 9 can lift 10,000 kg to LOE (or more). Let's say we could get a simple Em-drive and basic satellite and solar panel in for under 100kg. (We can do better, but let's start there). That's 1/100 of the load, so (in theory) we could maybe pay 1/100 of the $60m cost for a Falcon 9 lift, or $600,000. Half a million bucks plus some change, let's say. Edit: Less if we can get on board a previously-enjoyed rocket!
- daeken 11y agoYou also have to add in the payload integration fees, testing (very, very expensive), the actual payload development, insurance, and also be in a launch configuration such that you can piggyback behind a payload taking up most of the F9 capacity. I'd be astonished if the cost of this was less than $2-3M.