Many years ago in between jobs I launched one of the first Satellite Radio stations ” Rock Shop Radio” from an Astra Satellite sub audio band completely free of charge. You could say it was a bit of a favour from my old days at Murdochs Sky TV
Now you maybe thinking ..how on earth can Steve have rented time FOC on a major satellite network …well more on this in a later post!…. 😉
Admittedly space is an expensive business……
But ……If you’ve ever dreamed of developing your own Satellite and launching it into space then you maybe just a one step closer to realising your dream. Shaun Whitehead’s very smart company ThumbSat project has a one-stop shop solution to putting your experiment in space. It’s essentially a balloon-like design fitted-out with an array of electronic componentry such as a microcontroller, transmitter, GPS unit and camera. For a cost of around $20,000 or so, a ThumbSat can literally “Thumb A Lift” on space rockets that have already been scheduled for launch, retrieve data and transmit it down to a number of global receiver stations for about two/three months, and then burn up on re-entry into the earth’s atmosphere.
ThumbSat essentially is bringing space exploration and making it affordable & available to everyone — from bedroom scientists to school & college students to even NASA. The whole process is scaled down & streamlined so that you don’t experience the usual red tape & hurdles that characterises the usual process.
As their website proclaims Tiny Satellite = Tiny Cost = Huge Results.
A fascinating innovation that is going places.
Check it out
To your success.
Steve