4 ms·

Usually on the order of ~$100,000 / Unit (10x10x10cm). Rocket Labs posted their pricing publicly in 2015: https://www.rocketlabusa.com/news/updates/space-is-op

• samstave 8y ago
  You know what would be really interesting in the future for SpaceX - would be to have 'parasitic' launch capabilities whereby it could eject cube sats along its path as needed - like a cluster-bomb ejects bomblets. Question for those in the know about the orbital mechanics of these... How does one "register? for an orbit?" - get auth to launch something? Do you have to pay a body to monitor the object you place in orbit so it doesnt hit anything? Who is responsible for preventing collisions? Finally, given that the price is ~100K to get the cube sat up there, what is the total-cost-of-orbit for a cube sat?
  • inamberclad 8y ago
    Private spacecraft are under the authority of the government from which the organization originates in. For example, Swarm got in serious trouble with the FCC when they launched on an Indian rocket without FCC authorization. I believe geostationary and geosynchronous orbits have some kind of bidding/registration, but for a lot of LEO it's generally free space. NORAD tracks every object near the Earth that's over a certain size (a few cm). There's tens or hundreds of thousands and growing. It's operator responsibility to avoid collisions. The ISS, for example, will adjust its orbit slightly if they get a warning about debris passing too close. Can't answer for economics, but Aerospace is still a small and tight knit industry. We all learn from each other and study failures. Deviating from the standards (such as the aforementioned unsanctioned launches is frowned upon). Your mention of parasite cubesats is already implemented on some launches.
    • TrueDuality 8y ago
      The reason Swarm got in trouble is that they were launching smaller than cubesats, had applied for a launch license, and had it denied because of the inability to track the payloads. To keep their launch schedule, they (as a US company still) launched on an Indian based rocket to intentionally avoid the denial. This is strictly illegal under both international law (as having been denied a launch by their governing country), and US law (for being denied launch by a relevant governing agency). Space launches is definitely a small industry still, but it's fairly cut throat and I would only describe it as 'tight knit' in that generally every launch provider has interacted with every other launch provider. They will absolutely attempt to undercut each other and ignore certain paperwork as long as the customer has given their word that it has/will be approved.
    • samstave 8y ago
      What would be the pre-emptive-defensive action an authoritative body could take, should a rogue element launch tungsten “dice” into the orbital paths of *anything. Imagine an LEO “cluster bomb” with many tungsten bomblets that just sent a cloud of shrapnel out indisriminate orbit level? Is there any defense?
  • ummonk 8y ago
    That is how most cubes have been launched historically - piggybacking on larger launches. The electron launcher is a relatively recent development.