A Cornell Grad Student wants to  help you launch your own Satellite into Orbit for  $300 with KickSat. Zachary  Manchester is a Ph.D. student in Aerospace Engineering at Cornell University and president of Cornell SEDS (Students for the Exploration and Development of Space). He has worked on the development of small spacecraft called Sprites for the past three years. Zac’s goal is to democratize and expand access to space.

The KickSat  project will produce tiny printed circuit boards called Sprites which basically consist of an antenna, radio transmitters and solar cells. These tiny spacecraft will be launched into space inside CubeSat. CubeSat is a box with a spring loaded lid which will open when it receives a radio signal from the ground. Once the CubeSat’s lid opens Sprites are ejected from the cube using a spring loaded platform. The Sprites will then begin transmitting their individual radio messages back to earth. Scientist and enthusiast will be able to monitor the progress of each Sprite as it makes it’s way through space to it’s eventual, fiery doom on re-entry. Since all the Satellites only enter low earth orbit, they are should all eventually re-enter Earths atmosphere and be destroyed.

CubeSat Copyright KickSat.org

Manchester is gaining support for his project through the use of Kickstarter, a crowd funding website. The KickSat project’s goal is to raise $30,000 to pay for the launch and satellites. the project has only been going for a very short time and has already raised over $15,000.  As you may have guess by now, I like Kickstarter projects so much that I am announcing a contest.

If you could launch a satellite into space, what message would you send back to Earth?

Send in your answers and I will pick the best response. One winner will be chosen and will have their name engraved onto a Sprite spacecraft if the Kickstarter project is successfully funded.  To enter, leave a comment on this post. All entries must be received by Dec 2, 2011.  Makermasters.com makes no guarantee that KickSat will be launched into space. You must register to post your entry.  Official rules will be posted soon.

You can find out more about the KickSat Sprite concept here: