Planet Earth has entered the age of the Personal Satellite with the introduction of Interorbital’s TubeSat Personal Satellite (PS) Kit. The new IOS TubeSat PS Kit is the low-cost alternative to the CubeSat. It has three-quarters of the mass (0.75-kg) and volume of a CubeSat, but still offers plenty of room for most experiments or functions.
The interesting bit? Total cost = $8000, including launch costs. You can use paypal to order one and get a launch slot.
The not so interesting bit? It doesn’t appear that the launch vehicle actually exists.
Via Interorbital Systems – TubeSat Personal Satellite Kit | International Space Fellowship.
I am pleased as punch to see this bit of news. The Neptune vehicle that IOS is designing is based on one of my favorite launch vehicle concepts – OTRAG.
OTRAG was a (really) cheap modular rocket design dating from the mid-70s, which died due to politics. The guy behind OTRAG, Lutz Kayser, is now with IOS. I hope he can pull it off this time. He’s probably learned not to put his launch site in Libya, for one thing.