KickStarter Successful Space Projects
Today, private astronautics is actively developing and, in some industries, is gradually beginning to crowd national space programs. The launch capabilities of private space companies cannot compare with the budgets of states, but still most of the space companies are founded by people with billions or billions of states. Fortunately, the development of science, technology and communication tools makes it possible to make space exploration even more accessible. In many ways, this contributes to reducing the cost and weight of the components that can be assembled into a spacecraft. But the money is still needed, and here KickStarter crowdfunding service comes to the rescue. I decided to review successful campaigns related to space programs and try to determine the secret of success.
The loudest recent space success is associated with the fundraising campaign for the launch of the Arkyd-100 space telescope.
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In total, managed to attract more than $ 1.5 million dollars. The collection announced the company Planetary Resources, which aims to the development of near-earth asteroid minerals. The Arkyd-100 telescope was the first experience for the company. It does not have “mining” functions - it will be used to test technology, and work in the interests of education and the public. On the basis of such a telescope, the company plans to make an apparatus that will search for asteroids that are interesting for resource extraction. Probably, it will already be an interplanetary spacecraft, and not a near-earth satellite.
However, this campaign with a big stretch can be called a collection of "naked." The investors in Planetary Resources are Larry Page, Eric Schmidt, James Cameron. Therefore, the campaign coverage in the press was broad, and the project was interesting, many wanted to participate, including me .
The most successful project in terms of the requested / collected is owned by NanoSatisfi, which offered to launch CubeSat under the control of Arduino, and promised to provide the possibility of self-programming of the device.
The Internet public liked the idea of ​​driving their comic ship, so ArduSat, instead of the expected $ 35,000, attracted $ 106,000. Thanks to this, the company aroused the interest of investors, including Russian. Two ArduSat already delivered on August 9 to the ISS on board the Japanese cargo spacecraft HTV-4, will soon be launch.
An ingenious project was proposed in the SkyCube campaign .
Now, the launch of the Kubsat will surprise no one, but the initiators approached the matter creatively: in addition to the usual camera, they placed in the apparatus a can of carbon dioxide and a three-meter inflatable shiny ball. After 90 days of flight, the SkyCube inflates the balloon and becomes visible from Earth. Due to the low mass and large area, it quickly slows down on the upper layers of the atmosphere, falls and burns. In addition to the fun - watching the flying space bubble, available to everyone - the device carries out a test of the means of converting satellites from orbit. This is true due to the ever-increasing amount of space debris. The campaign attracted $ 116 thousand at a request of $ 82.5 thousand. The launch is yet to come, but when it is not specified. It is said: "in 2013, by launching with one of the Falcon 9 rockets". Perhaps this will happen on September 5, then we will look for the inflated bubble in the December sky.
Another satellite standard CubeSat offers other options. The KickSat spacecraft, which collected $ 74.5 thousand, instead of the requested $ 30 thousand, assumes a volume of only 2 liters, but at the same time should act as a ship-womb. In orbit, he must release a few dozen picosatellites, the size of a postage stamp.
Several graduate students at Cornell University have long been working on these devices. A handful of "satellite" has already passed the test of space, being launched from the ISS. Signals from these microscopic, by the standards of astronautics, satellites will be able to receive radio amateurs from around the world. So far, the “brands” can do nothing but squeak their unique names, but the initiators hope that someday such swarms of microscopic devices will be able to collect a huge amount of scientific information, being launched into the atmospheres of other planets.
A less entertaining and more applied project, Plasma Jet Electric Thrusters for Spacecraft collected $ 72 thousand instead of $ 69 thousand requested.
The initiator was the company HyperV , which is engaged in the manufacture of plasma accelerators, and now on their website indicated that they are engaged in the development of a fusion reactor. At KickStarter, they stated that they were ready to create a plasma engine based on their technology, which could be used in astronautics. The stated indicators: power 1.0 kW, jet discharge speed 20 km / s. Plasma Jet is one of the few projects that does not close on CubeSat, but swings at the mass of spacecraft of 100 kg or more. It is curious that the developers did not promise to make a flight sample - only to demonstrate the tests in the test chamber.
Another engine project that received funding from the Internet public is based on more traditional principles. Hermes Spacecraft - the campaign of the next developers of the tourist rocket glider. They asked for $ 20,000 to create a hybrid rocket engine and received $ 843 more.
Hybrid engines are those that have solid fuel and a liquid oxidizer. For example, the more famous Space Ship Two rocket glider is also a hybrid. It is difficult to understand what the Hermes initiators are hoping for in the absence of large investors and constantly increasing competition, but 321 KickStarter users believed in them.
In my review, I did not include almost a dozen fundraising campaigns, to launch another video camera or toy in space, on a stratostat. These initiatives have successfully attracted $ 2-3 thousand.
If you try to analyze the reasons for the success of the campaigns described, you can immediately note that interest is those who offer the possibility of independent participation for everyone who has provided even minimal support. In the case of the Arkyd-100, many will have the opportunity to see their photo on a monitor in space or even choose a target for shooting with a space telescope. ArduSat goes further and offers to take control of the spacecraft, and KickSat in general “gives” its own satellite.
Meanwhile, examples of support for engine development show that people are willing to finance rocket and technology progress, even if it does not promise any personal return. True resources are limited here. Literally, the campaign to raise funds for the CubeSat interplanetary plasma engine has just ended. The initiators requested too much - $ 200 thousand, and KickStarter mastered only $ 68 thousand.
In general, we can say that the chances of success are greater for space projects up to $ 100,000. Although the Arkyd-100 broke through this ceiling by 1.2 orders of magnitude, this is probably the exception. For example, the currently active Pocket Spacecraft project, similar to KickSat, in 19 days collected only $ 50 thousand, with the requested $ 290 thousand, although it offers to launch a “swarm” on the Moon.
The only campaign that caused my genuine surprise was the Prometeus teams. They proposed an interesting project of launching a rocket into low-Earth orbit from a stratostat. Request $ 20 thousand, and collected only $ 500. Although, there apparently was a flaw on the part of the initiators in the information and organizational support.
In the context of private astronautics, which is gaining popularity on both KickStarter and Habré, I remembered my old idea , to build Habr own satellite. Maybe all the same?
Arkyd-100
The loudest recent space success is associated with the fundraising campaign for the launch of the Arkyd-100 space telescope.
')
In total, managed to attract more than $ 1.5 million dollars. The collection announced the company Planetary Resources, which aims to the development of near-earth asteroid minerals. The Arkyd-100 telescope was the first experience for the company. It does not have “mining” functions - it will be used to test technology, and work in the interests of education and the public. On the basis of such a telescope, the company plans to make an apparatus that will search for asteroids that are interesting for resource extraction. Probably, it will already be an interplanetary spacecraft, and not a near-earth satellite.
However, this campaign with a big stretch can be called a collection of "naked." The investors in Planetary Resources are Larry Page, Eric Schmidt, James Cameron. Therefore, the campaign coverage in the press was broad, and the project was interesting, many wanted to participate, including me .
ArduSat
The most successful project in terms of the requested / collected is owned by NanoSatisfi, which offered to launch CubeSat under the control of Arduino, and promised to provide the possibility of self-programming of the device.
The Internet public liked the idea of ​​driving their comic ship, so ArduSat, instead of the expected $ 35,000, attracted $ 106,000. Thanks to this, the company aroused the interest of investors, including Russian. Two ArduSat already delivered on August 9 to the ISS on board the Japanese cargo spacecraft HTV-4, will soon be launch.
Skycube
An ingenious project was proposed in the SkyCube campaign .
Now, the launch of the Kubsat will surprise no one, but the initiators approached the matter creatively: in addition to the usual camera, they placed in the apparatus a can of carbon dioxide and a three-meter inflatable shiny ball. After 90 days of flight, the SkyCube inflates the balloon and becomes visible from Earth. Due to the low mass and large area, it quickly slows down on the upper layers of the atmosphere, falls and burns. In addition to the fun - watching the flying space bubble, available to everyone - the device carries out a test of the means of converting satellites from orbit. This is true due to the ever-increasing amount of space debris. The campaign attracted $ 116 thousand at a request of $ 82.5 thousand. The launch is yet to come, but when it is not specified. It is said: "in 2013, by launching with one of the Falcon 9 rockets". Perhaps this will happen on September 5, then we will look for the inflated bubble in the December sky.
Kicksat
Another satellite standard CubeSat offers other options. The KickSat spacecraft, which collected $ 74.5 thousand, instead of the requested $ 30 thousand, assumes a volume of only 2 liters, but at the same time should act as a ship-womb. In orbit, he must release a few dozen picosatellites, the size of a postage stamp.
Several graduate students at Cornell University have long been working on these devices. A handful of "satellite" has already passed the test of space, being launched from the ISS. Signals from these microscopic, by the standards of astronautics, satellites will be able to receive radio amateurs from around the world. So far, the “brands” can do nothing but squeak their unique names, but the initiators hope that someday such swarms of microscopic devices will be able to collect a huge amount of scientific information, being launched into the atmospheres of other planets.
Plasma Jet Electric Thrusters
A less entertaining and more applied project, Plasma Jet Electric Thrusters for Spacecraft collected $ 72 thousand instead of $ 69 thousand requested.
The initiator was the company HyperV , which is engaged in the manufacture of plasma accelerators, and now on their website indicated that they are engaged in the development of a fusion reactor. At KickStarter, they stated that they were ready to create a plasma engine based on their technology, which could be used in astronautics. The stated indicators: power 1.0 kW, jet discharge speed 20 km / s. Plasma Jet is one of the few projects that does not close on CubeSat, but swings at the mass of spacecraft of 100 kg or more. It is curious that the developers did not promise to make a flight sample - only to demonstrate the tests in the test chamber.
Hermes spacecraft
Another engine project that received funding from the Internet public is based on more traditional principles. Hermes Spacecraft - the campaign of the next developers of the tourist rocket glider. They asked for $ 20,000 to create a hybrid rocket engine and received $ 843 more.
Hybrid engines are those that have solid fuel and a liquid oxidizer. For example, the more famous Space Ship Two rocket glider is also a hybrid. It is difficult to understand what the Hermes initiators are hoping for in the absence of large investors and constantly increasing competition, but 321 KickStarter users believed in them.
In my review, I did not include almost a dozen fundraising campaigns, to launch another video camera or toy in space, on a stratostat. These initiatives have successfully attracted $ 2-3 thousand.
If you try to analyze the reasons for the success of the campaigns described, you can immediately note that interest is those who offer the possibility of independent participation for everyone who has provided even minimal support. In the case of the Arkyd-100, many will have the opportunity to see their photo on a monitor in space or even choose a target for shooting with a space telescope. ArduSat goes further and offers to take control of the spacecraft, and KickSat in general “gives” its own satellite.
Meanwhile, examples of support for engine development show that people are willing to finance rocket and technology progress, even if it does not promise any personal return. True resources are limited here. Literally, the campaign to raise funds for the CubeSat interplanetary plasma engine has just ended. The initiators requested too much - $ 200 thousand, and KickStarter mastered only $ 68 thousand.
In general, we can say that the chances of success are greater for space projects up to $ 100,000. Although the Arkyd-100 broke through this ceiling by 1.2 orders of magnitude, this is probably the exception. For example, the currently active Pocket Spacecraft project, similar to KickSat, in 19 days collected only $ 50 thousand, with the requested $ 290 thousand, although it offers to launch a “swarm” on the Moon.
The only campaign that caused my genuine surprise was the Prometeus teams. They proposed an interesting project of launching a rocket into low-Earth orbit from a stratostat. Request $ 20 thousand, and collected only $ 500. Although, there apparently was a flaw on the part of the initiators in the information and organizational support.
In the context of private astronautics, which is gaining popularity on both KickStarter and Habré, I remembered my old idea , to build Habr own satellite. Maybe all the same?
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/190110/
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