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Questions that should be askedQuestions that should be askedPosted Feb 27, 2013 7:21 UTC (Wed) by paulj (subscriber, #341)In reply to: Questions that should be asked by bronson Parent article: ABS: Android in space
There was an article in IEEE Spectrum a while ago about some group in the US that is trying to modularise satellites, and make it so components need not be custom-made, but "off the shelf" and plug together in standardised ways.
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Questions that should be asked Posted Feb 27, 2013 7:26 UTC (Wed) by dlang (✭ supporter ✭, #313) [Link]
one thing to keep in mind with space equipment is that most of it is so weight sensitive that you can spend a lot of money optimizing the design to save a small amount of weight and come out ahead.
In many cases, your mass issue compounds, a heavier craft means it needs bigger thrusters, more fuel......
Questions that should be asked Posted Feb 27, 2013 10:03 UTC (Wed) by khim (subscriber, #9252) [Link] It's only true if you send stuff to the Mars or Jupiter. To send 1kg to LEO you need about $4'000-$5'000 and to send 1kg to GEO you need $25'000-$30'000. That's if you use cheap "obsolete" Atlas, Dnepr, Proton, or similar modern replacements. Futuristic Space Shuttle was, indeed, 5-10 times more expensive, but that's not a problem anymore. At these prices easily achievable savings make sense, but if you need one fully engineer to work a year to save measly 1kg once then obviously it makes no sense at all.
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