Argentina launches its first home-built satellite

Argentina launches its first home-built satellite
businessweek.com

> Todo esto es habitual. Prácticamente ningún país del mundo dispone de la tecnología necesaria para construir un satélite “100% nacional”.

"All of this is normal. Practically no countries have the technology needed to construct a satellite that is "100% national"".

Furthermore, the article quotes an article by ARSAT itself, where it clearly states what parts are to be outsourced.

http://www.arsat.com.ar/novedades/arsat-awards-contracts-for...

Unfortunately I can't translate that because I don't know how to translate the technical terms (even though I am a technical person myself, I don't know the terms mentioned there, I assume because they are particular to satellite development), although it mentions a hardware component and the space "payload"

You can buy cars in pieces from several UK companies. And I have to say it was easier than I thought it was going to be.

In fact, it was probably too easy. I am engineer and used to do things myself. Making my own OS with gentoo when you had to compile everything yourself was way harder and longer than assembling the car.

Specifically for the people who are asking: the control software task is custom-built and brand-new, which is a pretty distinguished feature. The testing facilities were made from scratch; the assembly system, according to the necessary standards for geosynchronous satellites which operate outside of the Earths's magnetic field which protect LEO satellites from radiation, was also new. The components, while outsourced to the few entities on the planet with the necessary know-how, were built according to the INVAP's (the agency responsible for the project) own specs.

Integrating these systems, which are not built as turn-key solutions, is still an extremely complex affair and requires a high degree of knowledge and understanding of aerospace technology. This is some very talented and skilled staff working under the guidance of domain experts.

From this link: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2014/10/arsat-1-argentina-com...

"The desire to develop the capabilities went so far that, while the computer module was supplied by Astrium, the whole software was written from scratch by local contractors. Or, in the case of the AOCS system, the main computer, and both ACE (the Attitude Control Electronics) and TCE (Thruster Control Electronics), as well as the whole attitude control system and algorithms were developed at INVAP.

The distinction between the supplier of the off the shelf parts – and the specification, validation and integration of components and software development into a whole system – is very important. As a result, it can be considered a 100 percent INVAP product."

There's also experiments of the energy agency's custom-built solar panel technology, used for LEO satellites and now being experimented on this orbit. The plan is that this tech will continue to be developed and used for future stuff.

An interesting fact is that the reinsurance policy for the satellite is the cheapest ever for one on a geosynched orbit, which implies that the testing protocol made for this has been extremely sound, and thus the quality of the engineering.

The city of Bariloche, where much of this work was based, is also known for having the state's nuclear research and manufacturing industry, which has built and exported several commercial nuclear reactors.

http://uk.caterhamcars.com/cars