There seems to be a "hackers in space" theme at this year's Chaos Computer Camp. Damn I wish I was there! There are lots of cool talks on subjects like satellite communications, rocket propulsion, and amateur satellite radio. One group of German hackers is talking about their project - launching a nano satellite:

In 2011, mur.at will have a nano satellite launched into a low earth orbit (310 km above the surface of our planet). The satellite itself is a TubeSat personal satellite kit, developed and launched by interorbital systems. mur.sat is a joint venture of mur.at, ESC im Labor and realraum.

A TubeSat costs $8000 installed (in orbit). Unfortunately they put them in orbits that decay after a couple of weeks and there are probably issues associated with adding propulsion.

I still think there ought to be a webcam in space. The space station views channel at NASA is a huge improvement over the nothing that was available a couple of years ago, but its no cigar. You can't just go there at any particular moment and look at the earth. It appears that the budget flap has kept GoreSat grounded even though the Air Force has decided that they really want it. Maybe hackers can put a camera on the moon.

mur.sat