this post was submitted on 02 May 2026
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[–] Ikon@sh.itjust.works 32 points 1 week ago (1 children)
[–] Anberibaburia@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 1 week ago (1 children)

What i want to know is did it work? Are newer sattelites using similar materials.

[–] Rossphorus@lemmy.world 8 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Not that I know of, at least not for our cubesat. The aerospace sector moves extremely slowly because of 'flight heritage' - basically, if it hasn't been in multiple long-term space missions before then it's an instant rejection. You might ask 'then how does any new tech get into space?' and the answer to that is 'it generally doesn't'. More amateur satellite developers like university programs tend to 'move fast and break things' but with an emphasis on 'break'.

Besides this suborbital flight I haven't heard of anyone using carbon fibre frames before. I'm not a chemical engineer but I would imagine CF composites may have issues with outgassing, compared to metals. Outgassing can result in volatile compounds leaving suspension under a vacuum and depositing elsewhere, particularly bad for camera lenses and solar panels and such. Since the frame touches basically every part of the satellite, the risk here is high.

[–] MonkderVierte@lemmy.zip 10 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

What does it do?

And no shielding of any kind?

[–] ChaoticNeutralCzech@feddit.org 4 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

It seems to be a Unicorn 2 picosatellite, which includes the power, inertia control and communication systems and a telephoto camera as default payload. See the original Xitter post (via Xcancel) for details. Like most cubesats, they don't use shielding and it works.

[–] s@piefed.world 7 points 1 week ago

Technically, even a dust particle can be a satellite

[–] RiceManatee@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 week ago

And if we only want to count launched stuff... Project West Ford https://youtu.be/kbF5gkmfI_I