How Does the $5 Million SATGUS Space Selfie Satellite Work for Free?

TL;DR

SATGUS works by wirelessly receiving your picture from Earth, displaying it on a screen in space, and photographing it over any location on the planet. The 35-pound satellite took three years and $5 million to create, contains 7,836 parts, and was intended to provide space selfies free forever if it survived launch and transformed into selfie mode. Read on to understand the mission’s two critical milestones and launch sequence.

Transcript

This is essentially a 1.2 million pound, 22-story building being violently launched into space. And 35 of those 1.2 million pounds is something I spent $5 million in the last three years of my life creating, which is the reason right here that I'm trying my hardest not to lose my lunch. But if we succeeded, there would be a satellite in space that ... Read More

Key Insights

• SATGUS is a satellite that wirelessly receives a picture sent from Earth, displays that picture on a screen in orbit, and then photographs it against the planet below, producing a genuine space selfie over any location on Earth.
• The project cost $5 million across three years of the host's life, and the satellite accounts for 35 pounds of the rocket's total 1.2 million pounds, which is described as a 22-story building being violently launched into space.
• The satellite contains 7,836 parts, and if any single one of them breaks there is absolutely no way to fix it in orbit, meaning three years and $5 million would have produced nothing to show for the effort.
• Two milestones had to be cleared before the free selfie promise could be honored: escaping Earth's gravity with a successful rocket launch, and the satellite booting up and transforming itself into selfie mode after surviving the launch.
• Vandenberg Space Force Base was placed at its Cold War location partly because persistent cloud cover would better hide the nuclear missile silos there from Russian spy satellites, which makes the site useful for secrecy but risky for a live streamed launch.
• The Falcon 9 first stage ascends on nine Merlin engines that burn kerosene, and the exhaust glows extremely bright from carbon being burnt off, dimming as the rocket climbs through thinning atmosphere.
• The booster returns home through a boost back burn, an entry burn, and a landing burn that ignites at the last second, with landing legs deploying just before touchdown and the sonic boom arriving at spectators roughly a minute afterward.
• SATGUS was sent into a sun synchronous orbit, the same orbit used by spy satellites, and separation from the second stage was confirmed on the live stream, leaving the satellite free flying and dependent on the team's own engineering.

Questions & Answers

Q: What is SATGUS, and how does its space selfie system work?

SATGUS is a satellite designed to create actual selfies from space. It wirelessly receives your picture from Earth, displays it on a screen in orbit, and photographs that screen over any location on the planet.

Q: Are SATGUS space selfies free?

The host promised to make the selfie satellite free forever to anyone on the planet if the project succeeded. Fulfilling that promise required both a successful rocket launch and the satellite successfully booting up and transforming into selfie mode.

Q: How much did SATGUS cost, and how long did it take to create?

SATGUS cost $5 million and took three years of the host’s life to create. The satellite weighs 35 pounds, compared with the rocket’s total weight of 1.2 million pounds.

Q: What were the two critical milestones for the SATGUS mission?

The first milestone was escaping Earth’s gravity through a successful rocket launch. The second was having SATGUS survive the violent launch, boot up, and transform itself into selfie mode.

Q: Why would a failure in SATGUS be impossible to repair?

SATGUS contains 7,836 parts, and there is no way to fix a broken component once the satellite is in orbit. A single critical failure could therefore leave the team with nothing to show for three years of work and a $5 million investment.

Q: Why was fog a concern at Vandenberg Space Force Base?

Vandenberg commonly has persistent fog that can reduce visibility to less than 100 feet, making a livestreamed launch difficult to see. The transcript says the base was placed there during the Cold War partly because its cloud cover helped hide nuclear missile silos from Russian spy satellites, although launch morning was exceptionally clear.

Q: What launch sequence had to succeed before SATGUS could enter space?

Within 15 minutes, the rocket needed to launch, detach its first stage, land that stage safely, and activate the second stage. The second stage could then deploy the satellites it carried, including SATGUS.

Q: Who is Tim Dodd, and what did he do during the SATGUS launch?

Tim Dodd, also known as Everyday Astronaut, is described as the internet’s “rocket whisperer.” He helped prepare for the livestream and installed remote-trigger cameras at the launch site to capture slow-motion footage.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• The satellite, called SATGUS, weighs 35 of the rocket's 1.2 million pounds and cost $5 million over three years to create. It receives a picture wirelessly from Earth, displays that picture on a screen in space, and photographs it over any location on the planet, delivering a free space selfie to anyone who wants one.

• Success required two difficult milestones. The first was escaping Earth's gravity on a successful launch where a million things could go wrong and only one outcome is good. The second was the satellite booting up and transforming itself into selfie mode after surviving the violent launch, with no way to repair any of its 7,836 parts once in orbit.

• The launch happened at Vandenberg Space Force Base, chosen during the Cold War partly because persistent fog and cloud cover hid its nuclear missile silos from Russian spy satellites. That fog normally ruins visibility, but launch morning was described as the clearest ever seen there, which the host read as a good omen for the live stream and the watch party.

• The Falcon 9 sequence unfolded exactly as planned: nine Merlin engines lifted the 22-story vehicle, main engine cutoff came, the second stage ignited on a single Merlin 1D vacuum engine, and the booster flipped for its boost back burn and landing burn. It touched down on its landing legs, and the sonic boom reached the crowd about a minute later.

• SATGUS was placed into a sun synchronous orbit, the same orbit spy satellites use, and separation from the second stage was confirmed live. The host, who previously worked at NASA on the Mars rover, described the moment as emotional, noting that many kids' pictures are on the satellite and that the launch represented progress, humanity, and the power of engineering to do good.