Spritely does it

If you heard that private individuals were about to put a satellite into space you'd probably think they would be the likes of Richard Branson, Alan Sugar, Clive Sinclair or any other entrepreneurial type with a big wad of dosh in their back pocket.

How about instead a Cornell University graduate engaged in a research project and a bunch of people he's found through a crowd-funding drive?

Zac Manchester with his sprite 'nanosatellite'

That's the background to KickSat - a triumph of our age.  Such a project simply wouldn't have been possible before now.  It's a shining example of technology, community and ambition to try something new.

First of all there's the funding.  Satellites are expensive things to develop and even more to deploy.  So we have the determination and talents and graduate, Zac Manchester, to thank for finding a way to reduce this to  next to nothing.  The KickSat project is non-commercial and has gained NASA sponsorship under it's Educational Launch of Nanosatellites programme.   That basically means that NASA is footing the bill.

Even though the launch cost is being picked up by Uncle Sam, the units themselves don't come for free.  Zac has raised the necessary cash through Kickstarter.  He needed $30,000 and he got $74,586 with each punter paying around $300.

No bigger than two postage stamps - the Sprite spacecraft 

This is satellite on a minature scale.  The main unit is only 30cm and packed within it are 200 tiny satellites (or sprites).  They're not exactly much to look at.  Although they comprise just $25 of electronics they are packed with all the goodies that a satellite needs to function and to stay in orbit - a micro-controller (the computer brain), a magnetometer, a gyroscope, a radio transceiver and a solar array to provide the power.

There any number of technical and logistical issues to overcome - packing the sprites so that they spring out as expected and are orientated to point at the sun to allow the solar cells to generate power.  They've practiced it many times and they reckon they've got it down pat but the real test will be when they deploy for real.

The sprites are being launched in a low-orbit so they'll only last a few months before the fall out and burn up in the earth's atmosphere.  Still, that's not the point.  This is an ambitious project to demonstrate that real satellites can be built and deployed not with the vast resources of governments but by community efforts (plus a little help from the state).  No doubt they will learn heaps and this will hopefully lead to a pile of ever more ambitious projects.

The very best of luck to the KickSat project and all of those follow-ups that it may spawn.  

Kicksat.org

Check out the video on Kickstarter