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I hope it doesn't, unless we have a way of avoiding or recovering from a Kessler Syndrome event that denies us access to LEO.

amock 10y ago
This seems like it would be easy to avoid by not launching too high. I think there are already rules about disposing of satellites after they are no longer being used, so there's no reason those rules couldn't be applied to tiny personal satellites as well.
JshWright 10y ago
These sorts of low density satellites don't stick around long enough in low earth orbit to be much of a concern.
- TeMPOraL 10y ago
  Which in turns makes them a ridiculous waste of precious resources. We're literally letting expensive materials burn up in the atmosphere, and I don't like the idea of scaling this process up significantly. I think the future may not lie in satellites - most of the tasks could be done by fleets of solar-powered high-altitude drones. With the added benefits of a) being hugely cheaper to launch, and b) much easier to fix and relaunch. I wonder what's the state of tech in that area?
  - JshWright 10y ago
    Expensive materials? It's mostly aluminum and silicon... Sure, there are trace amounts of precious metals in the circuitry and batteries, but hardly enough to worry about. Drones sound far more expensive and complicated. Not only does it need all the complexity of this satellite, it also needs to be a high endurance autonomous drone...
    - TeMPOraL 10y ago
      > Drones sound far more expensive and complicated. Not only does it need all the complexity of this satellite, it also needs to be a high endurance autonomous drone... Drones per se, yes, but a satellite also needs to reach orbital velocity to be anything more than an expensive metal brick. We do that using huge amounts of rocket fuel. So I think if you add in the costs of rocket, solar-powered UAVs would have a great price advantage. The complexity isn't that of a problem - satellites have to be simple because if something breaks in orbit, you'll need another rocket to get someone up there to fix it. RE endurance requirements, correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't upper atmosphere quite calm?
      - JshWright 10y ago
        Sure, but the advantage of cubesats is that they 'piggyback' on other launches that were happening anyway (in this case, an ISS resupply mission).

amock 10y ago

This seems like it would be easy to avoid by not launching too high. I think there are already rules about disposing of satellites after they are no longer being used, so there's no reason those rules couldn't be applied to tiny personal satellites as well.

JshWright 10y ago

These sorts of low density satellites don't stick around long enough in low earth orbit to be much of a concern.

TeMPOraL 10y ago
Which in turns makes them a ridiculous waste of precious resources. We're literally letting expensive materials burn up in the atmosphere, and I don't like the idea of scaling this process up significantly. I think the future may not lie in satellites - most of the tasks could be done by fleets of solar-powered high-altitude drones. With the added benefits of a) being hugely cheaper to launch, and b) much easier to fix and relaunch. I wonder what's the state of tech in that area?
- JshWright 10y ago
  Expensive materials? It's mostly aluminum and silicon... Sure, there are trace amounts of precious metals in the circuitry and batteries, but hardly enough to worry about. Drones sound far more expensive and complicated. Not only does it need all the complexity of this satellite, it also needs to be a high endurance autonomous drone...
  - TeMPOraL 10y ago
    > Drones sound far more expensive and complicated. Not only does it need all the complexity of this satellite, it also needs to be a high endurance autonomous drone... Drones per se, yes, but a satellite also needs to reach orbital velocity to be anything more than an expensive metal brick. We do that using huge amounts of rocket fuel. So I think if you add in the costs of rocket, solar-powered UAVs would have a great price advantage. The complexity isn't that of a problem - satellites have to be simple because if something breaks in orbit, you'll need another rocket to get someone up there to fix it. RE endurance requirements, correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't upper atmosphere quite calm?
    - JshWright 10y ago
      Sure, but the advantage of cubesats is that they 'piggyback' on other launches that were happening anyway (in this case, an ISS resupply mission).