How would you design an orbital terrarium?

[mikelepage]

Why would you need either if you have sufficient thermal mass? A few hundred kg is not out of the realms of possibility for the type of mission you described in the OP.

No, but significantly more expensive. I was hoping that a viable version could be cube-sat scale. For example, 3U means 3kg limit; say 2U for the 200x100mm "dome", 1U for the 100x100mm for the power/electronics. Can that survive for a full year?

I only just saw that you'd replied to this. I'd been thinking along the lines of a SpaceX transporter class mission to SSO, and just for the sake of argument (example screenshots attached), I obtained a quote from the SpaceX Rideshare page, for a 15" separation system with 100kg payload. Just over $1m to launch (say with a $10-20m dev budget), gives you a decent volume to work with.  I know university departments are launching cubesats for $100ks, but it seems to me the development overheads for creating a temperature controlled pressure vessel are going to be at a whole other level, so I'm not sure how much we actually save on the launch costs of going to a (much smaller and less capable) cubesat.

If I'm reading the payload user guide correctly, that half-plate configuration with 15" adapter has a base plate dimension of about 55cm x 100cm, (and the volume expands in a 15 degree wedge out to a radius of 2210cm).

[floss]

Grow algae in a  tank, balance it with red snails, and  feed the snails to crawfish tiny production facility

[mikelepage]

Why would you need either if you have sufficient thermal mass? A few hundred kg is not out of the realms of possibility for the type of mission you described in the OP.

No, but significantly more expensive. I was hoping that a viable version could be cube-sat scale. For example, 3U means 3kg limit; say 2U for the 200x100mm "dome", 1U for the 100x100mm for the power/electronics. Can that survive for a full year?

I only just saw that you'd replied to this. I'd been thinking along the lines of a SpaceX transporter class mission to SSO, and just for the sake of argument (example screenshots attached)

Now that we’ve seen Starship deploy dummy starlinks, I wonder if - assuming the Pez-dispenser starship is opened to customer ridershare - that form factor would make even more sense as a cheap option to shoot for.

Perhaps if it could be the full-width 6.5m x 6.5m x 20cm, the design could consist of a 6m major diameter, 20cm minor diameter toroidal pressure vessel. Or come to think of it, have the frame as a piece of sheet metal that doubles as the radiator, then affix a pressure vessel with a U shaped cross section to it.

Tempted to set up a thread in the starship section that more broadly addresses what use cases people can imagine for ride share with starlink v3 form factor, but starting with this for now.

[sdsds]

Tempted to set up a thread in the starship section that more broadly addresses what use cases people can imagine for ride share with starlink v3 form factor, but starting with this for now.

It's an excellent creative use of the form factor. I imagine there might be some concerns about mixing a liquid payload with Starlinks?  (I have trouble enough mixing a coffee payload with my morning newspaper! ;-)

BTW I'd support your creation of a separate thread on the topic of Starlink form-factor payloads.

[mikelepage]

Tempted to set up a thread in the starship section that more broadly addresses what use cases people can imagine for ride share with starlink v3 form factor, but starting with this for now.

It's an excellent creative use of the form factor. I imagine there might be some concerns about mixing a liquid payload with Starlinks?  (I have trouble enough mixing a coffee payload with my morning newspaper! ;-)

BTW I'd support your creation of a separate thread on the topic of Starlink form-factor payloads.

You may not even need to mix with Starlinks if there are enough paying customers with payloads in that form factor. Just fly one in every n starship flights as a rideshare flight.

Okay I'll set up the thread.