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Summer of Space

16/5/2014

 

​There' s the ESA Summer of Code for students, but if you are no longer a student and still wanted to do space related coding - watch out for the Hackathon at the Satellite Applications Catapult which is now open for registration. The dates are 28-29 June, 2014.

And there's nothing more exciting than the first ever SpaceUp unconference in the UK on 5-6 July, 2014 - get your early bird ticket for 25GBP before the 25 May.  If you are unfamiliar with unconference, here is what wiki said: "Typically at an unconference, the agenda is created by the attendees at the beginning of the meeting. Anyone who wants to initiate a discussion on a topic can claim a time and a space. Unconferences typically feature open discussions rather than having a single speaker at the front of the room giving a talk, although any format is permitted." - but don't worry, keep an eye on the SpaceUp UK site, it will be releasing more tips and information in the run up to the day, so watch this space - just save the date and get the tickets already! Come to tell and hear about space at SpaceUp UK. 

Space for you - a whirlwind tour of Space industry

26/11/2013

 

​Having been focusing on the low down on hands on space hacks for our last couple of events, on the 20 Nov we had a change of perspective - before we get back to hands on development and wrap up the year with "Making Interplanetary Internet": http://interplanetaryinternet.eventbrite.co.uk/). 

We, together with Satellite Applications Catapult, hosted an intensive whirlwind of 6 space companies telling us about their entrepreneurial stories - the market they saw and the business they've created. To get a well rounded flavour, our speakers are from upstream (spacecrafts) and downstream (businesses that uses satellite data) space sector.
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We had ping pong table at the Rainmaking Loft, which was perfect for anyone needed a warm up before the talks commence or an exercise after the pizza! We also had bean bags to cater for those who needed to relax instead. 

Sam from Satellite Applications Catapult started the evening by providing an overview to the exciting growth of the space sector in the UK, followed up by Steph's quick intro to what you can do as citizen for space. In a series of lightening talks, we've cut the chase and dive straight into the exciting innovation and enablers from our speakers:

  • Dave from Geospatial Insight on using satellite data for the finance industry - now you didn't thought about that one, did you?
  • Matt from Planet Labs on providing open access to satellite imagery data and the flocks of doves (satellite's code name) they are sending up to the skies to facilitate that. 
  • Michael Johnson from Pocket Spacecraft on personal spacecraft that will impact the moon - and plans to go beyond, way beyond, the moon.
  • Kim from GeoCento on the exciting growing market of satellite earth observation imagery.
  • Graham from Avanti Communications on the wide range of example usages for satellite communications, from broadcast to tele-health. 
  • Tim from Rezatec on the opportunity in analysing earth observation data for carbon and agriculture monitoring.  
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It was a full house! It's always Citizen Inventor's aim to bring synergies between the speaker, the audience and the local community of the venue. With such a full house, hopefully you all have an interesting evening and went home with unexpected ideas, projects, new networks, synergies - possibly businesses that you are now talking to the Satellite Applications Catapult about! Feel free to let us know if that happened to you.
Just as we thought everything went smoothly, pizza arrived early. Swiftly we took a vote and went for the pizza. You'd have thought no one would sit down after pizza but, hey, we are all about trying new things. And believe it or not, it worked! After the pizza, we had a great panel Q&A - with all of our speakers on the stage. 
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It was interesting to hear the story of how the panel entered the space industry. Citizen Inventor has been talking about bio-payload but Graham from Avanti is well ahead of us there - he already looked  at sending worms to space back at school! 
It was very generous for Satellite Applications Catapult and Rainmaking Loft to sponsor the pizza, beer and venue hosting. Special thanks goes to all those extra pairs of hands that have made a swift tidy up happen - so we can all go to the pub! In line with the usual Citizen Inventor style, we had our extended Q&A in the pub and some of us left the pub only when it kicked us out... 

Finally, for those of us who like toys - watch this space. We're about to get some Christmas presents from Michael from Pocket Spacecraft... stay tuned!

Counting Down to our 3rd Space Event: Space for You!

31/10/2013

 

​You've heard from inspiring DIYers in Space technologies over the last couple of events, so you probably already know that space industry is more than the spacecrafts and planets. This time we want to showcase space technologies  that can be applied to our day to day life without us thinking about it consciously - weather data, GPS and more, from our experienced panel of space startups. 

The Satellite Applications Catapult and Citizen Inventor are jointly holding an event on the 20 Nov 2013 in London inviting everyone who is curious about the space industry and its application. Driven by innovative new business models, reduced launch costs and advancements in technology the sector is providing unprecedented opportunities for hackers, developers and entrepreneurs. Come hear from our panel of space startups and be inspired to become an “astropreneur”! This time, the event will be in a lightening talk format to give you an intensive preview of everything space. Plenty of chances to network and ask questions served with beer and pizza, generously hosted by Rainmaking Loft.  

Maker, Hackers, Entrepreneur and the Curious - come and (re-)invent with space technology!

Curiosity is all you need. 

Ticket for our third space talk is on sale now: 
  • Members - please RSVP at meetup: http://www.meetup.com/CitizenInventor/events/133517652/
  • Non-members - please get your ticket at: http://spaceforyou.eventbrite.co.uk/:

Opening up Space for Citizens: Satellite Application Catapult and Pocket Spacecraft

26/7/2013

 

​Citizen Inventor has its first ever event yesterday. Of all sciences and engineering disciplines, we have decided to head straight to Space for our first event! With an unmissable line-up and the generous sponsor on venue by The Open Data Institute.

Our first ever speaker is Dr Sam Adlen from the Satellite Application Catapult, who studied water on Mars in his PhD! It was great to hear the encouraging words on the government's new investments in the UK space industry, thus the opportunities. We've also heard many initiatives the Satellite Application Catapult have to lower the barrier of entry and facilitate technology innovation, for the Space industry and for the downstream satellite applications. One of them is to get data on earth observation arriving at our finger tips more seamlessly from the growing number of satellites and constellations that are to be launched. We also had a glimpse on the future (10+ years) missions related technologies. And, of course, we got loads of tips on who to go to for support and funding! And thanks Sam for presenting the TechDemoSAT to us on request.

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Sam explaining the setup of the seven Catapults:
  • Cell Therapy Catapult
  • Connected Digital Economy Catapult
  • Future Cities Catapult
  • High Value Manufacturing Catapult
  • Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult
  • Satellite Applications Catapult
  • Transport Systems Catapult 

Then we have Michael Johnson, a physicists heavily involved in two of the highest profile Kickstarter space project - the founder of Pocket Spacecraft and the co-creator of KickSAT. Pocket Spacecraft is the the first interplanetary citizen space exploration mission. Their goal is "to provide generic tools for space exploration and science, accessible enough for non-technical and technical people to use, for fun or serious science". This personal space age is facilitated by the Open Source Space System - so global community of engineers and hobbyists would be able to contribute to an extensive open source open access library of tools and techniques. It couldn't be more excited for the makers amongst us to hear that plans are to print spacecrafts in space with Prepositioned Orbiting Printers! Michael also shared his invaluable experiences and tips on how to fly things into space practically. We also had the great pleasure to have a detailed look on all the chips that was passed around:

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Left: A KickSAT sprite
Middle: Here is a chip that has the equivalent processing power as the Voyagers (butter shortbread included for scale) and it's what's powering your pocket spacecraft.
Above: A model of a Pocket Spacecraft


Last but not least, thanks to all those who have made it to the event in this glorious summer day. It surely was refreshing to have a pint, or two, or three, where we had our Q&A session with both speakers! There is so much to talk about regarding space - some of us only started making our way home as the pub encouraged us to do so by locking up... Without you, there's no community.

It's always good to have some actions after being in a room, so here are some suggestions:
- Save the date: 19/20 Oct. Satellite Applications Catapult Hackathon is on!
- Interested in having your spacecraft for the price of a PC? Get yours on Kickstarter before too late (by 26 Aug). 
- Come to the next meetup, spread the love to like minded people and get hands on! 

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