nano satellites

found on www.speceflight.com *(Spaceflight Now | Breaking News | Company to take small satellites to new dimension)

Company to take small
satellites to new dimension
BY STEPHEN CLARK
SPACEFLIGHT NOW
Posted: February 10, 2001

A Utah-based company is revolutionizing the satellite technology field by marketing a
small picosatellite design invented by a Stanford University
professor. The first batch of the cube-shaped satellites is
scheduled for launch in November.

One Stop Satellite Solutions (OSSS) touts the so-called
CubeSat design by mentioning that people can now build and
launch their own satellite for less than the cost of a sports utility
vehicle. Indeed, each CubeSat can be built and launched for well
under $50,000, depending on how the buyer wishes to outfit their new craft.


Stanford professor Robert Twiggs holds a model of the CubeSat design, with communications equipment in the background. Photo: L.A. Cicero/Stanford University.


"Just as Henry Ford made the automobile affordable to the masses
for the first time in the early 20th Century, our CubeSat satellite
will make space satellites affordable to the masses for the first time
in the early 21st Century. With our CubeSat satellites, which
measure only 4 x 4 x 4 inches, space has been opened to
individuals and groups in the general public, academic institutions
(large) and small as well as large businesses and corporations.
These satellites will be launched on our Multi-Payload Adapter,
which could be viewed as a 'mass transportation' vehicle to
space," Dale Richards, President of OSSS, said at a news
conference in November.

OSSS engineers say they can help configure private ground
stations and computer and power systems on CubeSats as
needed.

Each CubeSat will draw energy and electricity by using a
combination of solar and battery power. Efficient solar cells cover
the outer skin of the craft to help power the complex electronics
inside the more advanced CubeSat kits.

The spacecraft is cubic in shape with measurements of only 4
inches on each side. Weighing in at approximately two pounds, the
design kit comes in three separate versions, each with its own
specific capabilities. The basic, stripped down kit features no
electrical or communications systems and is best suited for
personal non-scientific missions. Next up the ladder is a design
that contains electrical and computer systems, while another kit
adds communications systems to this scheme. These kits can be
best utilized for scientific applications.

No matter which type of CubeSat a customer may choose, it will contain
around six trays that can hold almost any type of experiment — from
microgravity research, to satellite testing, to putting a name or personal
momento into orbit.


Model of a CubeSat. Photo: OSSS.


Robert Twiggs, a consulting professor
at Stanford University and one of
those involved in designing the
CubeSat kits, hopes to sell that payload space for around
$50,000. "We call that the TSFR space," said Twiggs, "and TSFR
stands for This Space For Rent."

"With this program, we are opening an unprecedented new door
for opportunities in space that have previously been closed,"
Twiggs explained. "Now, based on inquiries we have received, I
can envision some 100 to 200 of these small satellites being
launched annually. However, to avoid littering space, we have
plans to bring them back to earth once their programs have been
completed."

In fact, according to Michael Wood, an OSSS Program Manager,
the story behind the conception of the idea of the CubeSat
program stems from a phenomenon that gripped the nation — and
apparently the attention of Twiggs — several years ago.

"As a matter of fact, the CubeSat initially started out to imitate
Beanie Baby boxes," Wood told Spaceflight Now in an interview.
"(Twiggs's) idea is smaller is better," he explained.

The deployment of the CubeSats will occur using the
OSSS-developed Multi-Payload Adapter, or MPA. First flown
aboard a Minotaur rocket mission in January 2000, the MPA can
possibly accommodate up to a hundred CubeSats per mission in
the future, Wood told Spaceflight Now. "That's our backbone
apparatus," he said of the MPA.

The first group of CubeSats is currently set to launch on
November 15 aboard a Dnepr rocket from the Baikonur
Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

That launch will carry an expected maximum of 18 CubeSats from
customers such as Stanford, California Polytechnic State
University (Cal Poly), Montana State University, the University of
Arizona, Dartmouth College, the University of Tokyo, and the
Tokyo Institute of Technology.


A Multi-Payload Adapter, similar to the one to be used on the CubeSat missions. Photo: OSSS.


Inside the MPA for the November launch will be six poly-picosat
orbiting deployers, or P-PODs, built by Cal Poly. Three CubeSat
satellites will fit inside each P-POD for later deployment.

Wood outlined some of the core challenges by noting the large
number of groups involved in the CubeSat program. "Well,
probably the challenges would be just coordination because there
are so many involved," he told Spaceflight Now.

Wood also said that using the Russians to launch CubeSats are a
bit of a challenge because of difficulty in obtaining licenses and
contracts.

OSSS officials say they are planning another launch using a Dnepr
rocket in November 2002.

If you are interested in looking into purchasing a CubeSat kit,
please see this web site for more information: http://www.osss.com/products/cubesatrfq.html.

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sorry, за такой обьем английского. всеже, может кому-то будет интересно.
[This message has been edited by Indy (edited 12-02-2001).]