[amsat-bb] Current Launch Costs From Spaceflight

[B J]

On 8/1/14, Paul Stoetzer <n8hm at arrl.net> wrote:
> The Wikipedia article on CubeSats
> (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CubeSat) has a very nice summary of why
> they are the present and future of the small satellite industry:
>
> "The CubeSat specification accomplishes several high-level goals.
> Simplification of the satellite's infrastructure makes it possible to
> design and produce a workable satellite at low cost. Encapsulation of
> the launcher–payload interface takes away the prohibitive amount of
> managerial work that would previously be required for mating a
> piggyback satellite with its launcher. Unification among payloads and
> launchers enables quick exchanges of payloads and utilization of
> launch opportunities on short notice."
>
> I've noticed from reading this board's current posts and archives that
> there is a bias against CubeSats from some due to a belief that they
> are somehow inherently limited in capability, unreliable, and short
> lived, but there is nothing inherent in the CubeSat format that makes
> it that way, it's simply a standardized way to build a satellite.

<snip>

I think part of the opposition from the amateur radio community comes
from an attitude of certain cubesat users that they have a right to
use spectrum which is specifically allocated for amateur use.  All
they do is claim that they're "amateurs" (by not being affiliated with
government or industry) and the law appears to let them get away with
it.  If hams have objections to it, they're told to get lost by those
same users, almost as if hams have no right to those frequencies.

Then again, what do you expect from a segment of the population that
regards amateur radio as an anachronism?

73s

Bernhard VA6BMJ @ DO33FL