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It’s not big corps. Interns. Student projects. I make software typically used in the space industry and our customers are surprisingly small, just s dozen peopl
by eastbound 1y ago
It’s not big corps. Interns. Student projects. I make software typically used in the space industry and our customers are surprisingly small, just s dozen people each time. Startups, half of them funded by the EU startup funds.
The kilogram in orbit is supposed to go down to $1000, and everyone’s joking that it becomes affordable to send a turd to space “for the lulz”. It’s literally the case.
Ariane 5G is already down to 10k$/kg, Falcon 9 is at 6500k$, pricing on https://www.spacex.com/rideshare/ https://www.spacex.com/rideshare/ and you can literally click “Buy” and enter your credit card number.
- daymanstep 1y agoI see a minimum price of $325k I don't think a student is going to be able to afford that any time soon
- xmcqdpt2 1y agoI think it’s cheaper for student groups. If you google “student club sends satellite” you get a bunch of examples, https://globalnews.ca/news/9818771/university-of-saskatchewan-student-satellite-in-space/ https://globalnews.ca/news/9818771/university-of-saskatchewa... https://news.northeastern.edu/2024/09/16/satellite-development-cost-project-horizon/ https://news.northeastern.edu/2024/09/16/satellite-developme... https://www.utoronto.ca/news/launch-its-first-satellite-student-team-charts-course-new-knowledge https://www.utoronto.ca/news/launch-its-first-satellite-stud... etc
- syedkarim 1y agoSpaceX isn’t providing a discount to student groups. The program, Cubesat Launch Initiative, is funded by NASA and covers the cost of launch and integration into the deployer.
- eastbound 1y ago325k$ is for 50kg. Yes it’s the minimum for this program. The students I had were programming the 10cm^3 satellites, I don’t have more details than this cursory explanation but it’s definitely possible.
- wmf 1y agoA cubesat isn't 50kg. Maybe people are subletting a single slot.