rick fleeter\'s personal satellite revolution has begun

SpaceX\'s Falcon 9 v1 was launched on Friday.
Launch a rocket into the International Space Station (ISS)
There are at least three main reasons that are important.
First, because the vehicle carries about 5,000 pounds of the material (
Including food and new space suits)
Take its Dragon cabin to the International Space Station.
There are currently 6 stationsman crew --
Oleg algemiev, Russia of Alexander Skvorsov and Mikhail akihablin.
Rick Mastracchio and Steve Swanson USA;
And Yoshida, Japan.
The second reason is that the mission will attempt to restore the first of two phases of Falcon 9.
Once the phase is separated a few minutes after launch, the first phase will be instructed to re-
Ignite its engine and slowly descend to the Atlantic Ocean, where SpaceX engineers will try to get it back and use it again for future launches, saving a lot of money.
If all goes well, this will be a key step in the development of reusable launch vehicles (RLVs)
This could significantly reduce the cost of space launch and potentially change the one-time launch vehicle crop today (ELVs)
Dinosaur--
Almost overnight.
The third reason-
Probably the most fascinating--
The Falcon 9 carries 104 small satellites called chips. -
Even 2-
Over the past decade, many universities have launched a \"cube satellite\" of £ 5 \".
These new satellites
Specify \"Sprite \")
Built by Cornell University, it weighs about.
About 02 pounds of the stamp size. -
1 square inch
Each Sprite carries its own power supply, sensors and communication systems on the printed circuit board. It has a micro-
Radio transmitters and solar cells.
According to a recent press release from NASA\'s Ames Research Center: \"chips like Sprite represent a disruptive new space technology that has the potential to give open space to amateurs and students, and can complete a new kind of scientific task. \"Think about it.
We now have smaller satellites than the iPod Nano.
The idea of building and launching millions of satellites is no longer a daydream, and the idea that ordinary people have their own satellites is no longer a daydream.
It is not clear how we will use these satellites every day (
Maybe for secure \"cloud\" storage)
But apparently the consumer app will come.
I had a long conversation with Rick Fleeter about 20 years ago, and Rick Fleeter created a small satellite manufacturer called AeroAstro in Herndon, Virginia. Neat guy, Rick. . .
He goes to work by bike every day.
The space engineer is also excellent.
Rick told me that he had foreseen a day when people had their own satellites in orbit.
At that time, the idea was a bit silly.
Not much anymore.