WANT to do your own space experiment? From next week, you will be able to buy time on the world's first open source satellites.
ArduSat-1 and ArduSat-X were launched to the International Space Station on 3 August aboard a Japanese resupply vehicle.
Known as CubeSats, each satellite packs an array of devices, including cameras and a Geiger counter, into a box 10 centimetres to a side. The cargo ship should arrive at the ISS on 9 August, and the CubeSats will then be deployed.
The project was partially funded by a Kickstarter campaign, with backers buying time slots to run experiments. Users will be able to program controls on the satellites and run experiments for three days or a week. Projects are yet to be announced, but a list of ideas from the developers includes tracking meteorites and making a 3D model of Earth's magnetosphere.
The satellites will orbit for three to seven months before burning up as they fall to Earth. NanoSatisfi, the San Francisco start-up that builds the machines, hopes to send fleets of them into space on future launches.
This article appeared in print under the headline "Citizen satellites"
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