As a proud Space Camp alumna, it's always been my dream to see the Earth from orbit. Becoming a NASA astronaut is out, and I'm a few thousand dollars away from a Virgin Galactic ticket, but a Mountain View-based startup Nanosatisfi can give me the next best thing. The company has built a very small satellite that once in orbit, allows anyone – from backyard astronomers to science-driven students – with $250 per week to take photos from space and run their own scientific experiments.
"Our one big goal is affordable, convenient, and accessible space exploration for everyone," says Nanosatisfi CEO Peter Platzer (pictured right). Inspired by what Richard Branson and Elon Musk are doing to make space travel a reality for everyday people, Platzer wants to bring a different kind of space exploration to anyone fascinated with space and science, especially children. But Platzer, a physicist and former Wall Street analyst, isn't all zero-gravity hugs; he plans to turn his own love of space into a bona fide business.
Platzer has engineered a tiny satellite called the ArduSat, which runs on several programmable Arduino computers, is equipped with a camera to take photos of the Earth, and uses an UHF transceiver to send and receive data. The finished ArduSat satellite is roughly the size of a water bottle, 10 by 10 by 30 centimeters, and costs less than $1 million to build and launch. Platzer plans to send two up in 2013 aboard rockets resupplying the International Space Station, with many more to come when (and if) the company gains traction and customers. The first satellite will orbit for two to three months before burning up in Earth's atmosphere. Later satellites will orbit for two or more years before de-orbiting, Platzer says.
The idea in the next few years, he says, is to get dozens of the little orbiting machines into orbit; enough to make it easy and affordable for anyone to rent time on a satellite. Platzer estimates there are at least 7 million middle and high school students in the U.S. alone who are interested enough in space and science to want to book time on a satellite to either take photos or run simple experiments. Then there are all the adults who like to stargaze, students in other countries, or younger kids interested in space. All told, Platzer says he's looking at a multi-billion-dollar market. Nanosatisfi will sell one week of time to take photos or conduct experiments for $250, cheap enough for most space enthusiasts, students, or classrooms to get access. Platzer says that fee is enough to make the company profitable from its first two satellites if they sell every time slot available.
That may sound like hugely optimistic math (and it is), but judging by ArduSat's Kickstarter campaign last summer, which raised $106,000 (three times the original funding goal of $35,000) Platzer has a shot at making it real.
One of the Kickstarter backers is Dave Pentecost, the director of technology for the Lower East Side Girls Club, an educational community program for girls in Manhattan. The program encourages girls to take an interest in science, math, and engineering. When Pentecost heard about the chance to control a satellite, he knew the girls at the center would love it. "The idea that we could back ArduSat and get three days to run our programs on the Arduino satellite, and also take photographs from space, was very appealing," says Pentecost.
Currently Pentecost is teaching a group of 12-year-old girls how to program Arduinos, and he's told them that they'll soon get the opportunity to use that knowledge to operate a satellite in space. Unsurprisingly, the chance to control a satellite has the girls very excited. "There's no limit to what you can do on the ArduSat," he says. "If we want to do a crazy art project, or have the satellite send the girls' parents an e-mail from space, we can do that."
Jason Dunn, another ArduSat Kickstarter backer, pledged his money he's excited by the implications of low-cost space exploration. "The idea behind ArduSat will literally open the doors for anyone to be a space explorer," he says. "The barriers to entry are dramatically lowered by removing the need for people to develop, finance, and launch their own spacecraft. Now they can work on the code that they want to run on the ArduSat."
The types of scientific experiments you can run on the ArduSat are only limited by your imagination and coding skills. "One experiment that was submitted to us is called meteorite hunter, which looks for meteorites as they burn up in Earth's atmosphere," Platzer says. (Could have used that one recently.) "With the camera, you can look for meteorite showers and take photos." You could also map and track changes in the Earth's magnetic field using the ArduSat's camera, Platzer explains. He imagines that with the ArduSat, mold-growing science fair projects of the past will be replaced by astronomy experiments conducted in near-earth orbit via satellite and with a bit of computer programming. "Twenty years ago, it was proposed that every kid should have access to a computer in school and we've reached that point," says Platzer. "I could see a future where every kid has access to a satellite to run their own experiments."
The first ArdusSat is scheduled to go up with a International Space Station resupply mission from Japan in July, and the second will launch in late September or early October 2013. Once the first satellite reaches the International Space Station, it will be released into orbit by a robotic arm on the Japanese Kibo module. Those who backed the Kickstarter project will get the first crack at running experiments and taking photos on the ArduSat. Platzer says he'll begin selling time on the satellites once the original backers have had their time.
Once Platzer has a fleet of ArduSats in orbit, a feat he says will take at least a few years, he'll likely turn his attention to deeper space exploration. There's already talk about sending nano satellites like the Ardusat to explore the moon, and with the help of a rocket an ArduSat could feasibly go poke around other planets in our solar system. "There is a whole solar system out there that wants to be explored – starting with hitching a ride on Elon Musk's trip to Mars!" says Platzer.
