Once upon a time, space programs were solely the endeavor of nation states. Lately, however, prices have fallen. Nowadays, making and launching an artificial satellite is the stuff of university student projects with budgets of circa USD $60,000-$85,000 if we're talking about a cubesat -- a micro-satellite standard for small projects. Cubesat kits are available for approximately USD $5000.
How useful could such a micro-satellite be to anarchists?
Granted, the money involved is far more than surely any of us have lying around in unspent beer money. Suspend your disbelief momentarily, though, in order to consider the advantages and let them be weighed against the costs -- costs which are only going to keep coming down anyway.
Imagine a 10cm x 10cm x 10cm aluminum cube with solar panels, a tiny Linux server and a 2.4 Ghz band radio modem. Circling the Earth in orbit, it could be contacted via radio modem from anywhere on Earth that it passes over in order to download its data payload.
Well, we have the Internet, and radio modems aren't in common usage anyway -- so why do this? Simple. It would be more difficult for The Man(tm) to shut down. It could be used as a distribution point of last resort for state-thwarting hacktivism software such as ScatterChat and classic anarchist propaganda.
More importantly, the launch itself would be an unparalleled propaganda achievement in the field of radical politics. It is precisely the large scope of the project that could potentially move mountains of public opinion about the supposed unworkability of anarchism. Here would be a statement about the power of voluntary cooperation. Here would potentially be a way to expose the mischaracterization of anarchists as merely hooligans seeking only mayhem and misery for our fellow human beings as the slander it truly is.
Sure, the primitivists probably won't like it. Sure, that money could feed a lot of hungry people. Sure, there are plenty of other projects that are more, well, "down to earth". There are perhaps a million possible objections. But with this idea I'm tentatively calling "AgitSat", I wonder about its capacity to inspire.
Could a diverse committee be put together that could study the project idea in more detail?
Could that committee put together a data payload with broad appeal among anarchists and which would fit in the data storage available?
Could that committee bring to bear the necessary skills to put a cubesat kit together, configure its systems and see the project through?
Could that committee fundraise globally for perhaps 2 or 3 years to put the money together?
In principle, I see no reason why not. The only obstacles are will and organization. Can we find those in ourselves?
Sunday, March 25, 2007
AgitSat: raise the black flag high
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7 comments:
That's a great idea. Imagine further a swarm of these satellites, some orbiting some geosynchronous, not only communitcating with the earth, but with each other, creating a mesh network for failover and instant communications.
The ultimate Open Source project.
There is one little problem though. Where do we borrow a "heavy lift vehicle" to get these little boxes up there? The European Space Agency goes to the Russians but I don't think the "comrades" in Moscow will see cooperation with anarchists as an "historical necessity" anymore. Could we disguise ourselves within some research institute? There are possibilities here.
In principle, this sounds like an awesome idea. But apart from considerations about technical and financial difficulties, perhaps my gravest reservations stem from the fact that you can hardly get two anarchists agree on one issue -- due to their nature as anarchists. So, is it really possible to get anarchists to agree on what to do with such a satellite? Wouldn't we end up with as many satellite projects as there are anarchists?
Well you've three people here more or less agreeing on this idea right now. That's a fairly good start.
Followed you here from William Gillis's website. Very interesting idea.
I'm not an anarchist - just a guy who works part-time for a company that wants to build a novel launch system. We think - and it's early days yet so this isn't a firm claim - that we can lower the cost of access down to around $400 a pound.
The downside is that we don't really know that a space elevator can be built - not for technical reasons but for legal and political ones. Another pitfall is that this is a few years off - we're talking 2031.
Some things to consider
There are operating costs. The university projects you cite are designed to operate for a finite period and then provision is made for their orbit to decay and the satellite to burn up on re-entry. This is done so the satellite is not a dead in the water hazard to navigation. I don't know all the details but if you are operating the satellite you'll need to arrange for capital for ongoing support.
William wrote
Of course we'd have to secure a delivery system that wasn't susceptible to statist sabotage. But the free market is pliable.
I don't know from statist sabotage but there are international conventions launch operators must be follow. Don't play by the rules, you don't get a ride, no matter how much money you have.
Don't get me wrong - I think this is a fascinating idea even while I think you guys are pretty whacked (I say that in a good way) politically. But launching and operating a satellite is a very specialized and technical endeavor, which can't be done without following some (to put it in your cant) Statist rules and regulations.
But, yes, interesting and probably worth doing.
Werner said...
There is one little problem though. Where do we borrow a "heavy lift vehicle" to get these little boxes up there?
A CubeSat only weighs a couple of pounds so a heavy lift vehicle is not required. You might even make it work with a large amateur rocket if you balloon launch it from 80,000 feet or so. Might not work but the idea is that a commercial launch vehicle may not be needed and certainly not a heavy.
Usually these small satellite projects are included with a package of other stuff. These usually work through some university or research institute. These packages go up in regular rockets.
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