Kiwi Rocket Lab to build SUPER-CHEAP sat launchers (anyone know 30 rocket scientists?)

True but currently there is no such 'tuc tuc' service available for would be small satellite slingers is there?

Re: Amortise

I don't know what Copenhagen Sub-Orbital's budget to date has been, but I'd be highly surprised if they've had anything like a billion USD thus far (they're an amateur rocketry outfit), and their ultimate aim is to send a human on a sub-orbital flight. Granted, achieving orbit is that bit harder, but 5mil doesn't sound inconceivable to me (NB: I am not an expert, I just follow current space efforts online now and then). And didn't SpaceX get going with considerably less than a billion and are now delivering loads to the ISS, with a human-rated multi-crew capsule due to launch within a couple of years?

Re: Brain Drain

"telecommunications environment is expensive thanks to 30 years of monopolistic abuse by the incumbent telco"

Which incumbent telco, exactly? NZ hasn't had one of its own since the Post Office telecom division was sold off for privatisation in the late '80s.

New Zealand Telecom(*) has been owned by the Americans - Bell Atlantic Corporation and Ameritech Corporation - for decades. The buyout cost my dad his job.

(* Now called something nausea-inducing in the style of NZ's wave of cheesy corporate rebrandings over the last decade)

Re: How many orbiting satellites can be put up there?

nope, and it is a problem

old article

http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/shortsharpscience/2009/02/how-to-prevent-another-satelli.html

Re: How many orbiting satellites can be put up there?

Geostationary orbits are divided between countries up by international agreement, and usually then leased to commercial operators, but there's no regulation anywhere else, hence the growing clouds of crap filling up LEO.

Re: How many orbiting satellites can be put up there?

It depends. If you want to put something on the equitorial geo-stationary belt, then yes, there is slot allocation. However this rocket wouldn't even manage to get itself anywhere near on a trajectory in that directdion, let alone a payload.

In Low-Earth Orbit, there is a generally agreed rule that if you put something up there, you have to make sure it comes back safetly and doesn't just litter. The new Metop sats had a problem with this, and the redesign to carry enough fuel to de-orbit safetly was significant. However Metops are also significantly bigger than this rocket can fly.

That leaves the little micro / nano satellites etc. I think that the rules generally depend on the launching country, and are generally more relaxed. You generally have to ensure that it will de-orbit within a certain time-frame, which normally just means putting it into the correct orbit. However, for example the law in the UK says something like if you want to launch something into space, then you have to get it up there and back by chauffeured Rolls Royce and jump though a few hoops on the way, while wrapped in red-tape.

Re: favourable launch location in NZ

Could easily ship it up to North Queensland which is approx -10S, just tell them its top secret hush hush.

Re: favourable launch location in NZ

Sorry, no, that's wrong, the place of launch would be about 37 degrees south and that inclination for technical reasons is excellent for the angle of orbit required in this application.

Re: Anyone know 30 rocket scientists?

There are plenty of 'rocket scientists'. It's not like there is one in every neighborhood or anything, but they are certainly not difficult to find if you go actively looking for some. We've got one. They're easier to find than top flight Metrologists.

But the problem isn't in finding rocket scientists. They're all mostly in the same places, which is on the staff of aerospace firms. More specifically, the defense side of aerospace. Because of that, you've got to come with serious compensation and benefits offerings if you want to steal them away. They are very jealously guarded by their employers and, depending on their specialty, you may have to go through government channels to recruit them. They are rocket scientists after all. You want to keep tabs on who they're working for :) We only got ours because he did something incredibly stupid and was blackballed by the aerospace industry.

Anyway, point is, they're out there, but they're really expensive and generally fairly happy where they are.

Error

It is called The Hauraki Gulf, also New Zealand is not "sparsely populated", there are dozens of us.

@ Breen Whitman

Utter bullshit. The only time I have ever duty, or more recently GST was on a computer I bought in Singapore for about half the price that they were in NZ at the time, and that was back in about '81 if I recall correctly.

I was charged GST of 15% on a $2000 order I imported a couple of years back.

$120 on $10? Don't be ridiculous.

Other things I have bought online have cost nothing extra and they've all been declared.