How to build your own satellite

April Flowers for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online

Earlier this year, we told you about a new concept in satellite construction and sales: PocketQube Shop. The shop, based in Glasgow, Scotland, has been open since January 2014, selling off-the-shelf components for creating your own launchable satellites. Their mission is to “democratize access to Space.”

Today, PocketQube Shop is adding a new addition to their online store’s lineup: the PocketQube Satellite Kit. Instead of individual parts, the Kit will be a ready-to-use collection of components that will allow you to build a small budget satellite. This first-of-its-kind kit has been developed for the new PocketQube Standard 5cm (2 inch) cube spacecraft—which are the smallest to have ever successfully fly to and operate in space.

The PocketQube Kit v1.0 EM will include: “Spacecraft Structure, a Radio board (MiniSatCom), an On Board Computer (brain of the satellite) and a Labsat development board to test different electronics boards.”  It comes in a couple different versions, with the base model starting around $5999 USD. Further options, such as solar panels, can be added to the basic kit.

The PocketQube team hopes to market their kits to STEM groups such as high school through university students, government agencies, amateur/hobby groups and private enterprises. The PocketQube Kit is a (relatively) low-cost option in the growing field of cube satellites built from readily available components. For example, the larger CubeSat typically costs around $150,000 for hardware and launch. From kit to launch with PocketQube, the entire process costs around $35,000.

The boards in the Kit have a modular design and are programmable using the Labsat Development board. The PocketQube Kit is able to interface with third party hardware (such as custom payloads) through a community led standard interface called PQ60.

Tom Walkinshaw, the Founder/CEO of PocketQube Shop (Alba Orbital Ltd) said, “We are really excited to be bringing our PocketQube Kit market. Our mission is to democratise low-cost access to space for Planet Earth and this kit is a key stepping stone to enabling this goal. We believe this could be a game-changer for getting new technologies flown in space quicker and educating the next generation of STEM students.”

Although such satellites do make reaching Space available to private citizens, PocketQube admits there are trade-offs to being so small. “There is less mass to try things and less power/communications to uplink and downlink data to the spacecraft. […] The other caveat is that PocketQube is new, bleeding edge new. This means a lack of an industrial base to support the development of ‘off the shelf components.”  They are working to overcome these challenges, however, with the help of partnerships with companies such as RadioBro and Stras-Space.

PocketQube is also partnering with several launch-capable companies to lower the cost of getting the satellites to Low Earth Orbit, or LEO. The next launch will take place in Russia in early 2016.

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