Research

The hard parts get their own notebook.

Phase 1 is complete. The working design is a Starship-scale platform with laser comms and HD Earth video, backed by a source-captured research library. A first-pass power study is in: the power budget works if we fly cameras and skip the lasers for now. Flying both lasers wants a folding solar wing in the 250–350 W class. SpaceX has not published Mini Laser size, weight, or power, so we are not inventing those numbers. If the cameras look at Earth's surface, NOAA contact is the first paperwork gate. The FCC licenses radio, not lasers. Five-year disposal is already required. The printed smallsat track is not a schedule. After separation we own the bus. This mass class is built to fit ESPA, a common rideshare adapter ring. Public Starship power numbers stay unpublished. HD Earth video is a tenth-of-a-degree body-pointing problem. Public optical terminals do the fine pointing inside the head. A small thruster pack with about 50 m/s of push, one-newton class, is the first-pass close. Commands go over S-band (2025–2110 / 2200–2290 MHz) with a commercial ground network (KSAT Lite or Leaf), not a backyard dish first. The lasers are not the command path. The locked bus is quote-only. SpaceX's printed rideshare prices are for sun-synchronous orbits, not this 53° path. 53° / Bandwagon has no printed dollar. The Starship smallsat ticket is missing. 485 km is a congested band. We do not have a cited collision-avoidance rate for this shell. Nothing that closes a locked flight need is add-to-cart. A cheap garage bench exists; it does not close flight parts. The real flight parts still need a quote. Next is those quotes and a real conjunction run — not more architecture. High-level only — verify every conclusion against primary sources. Not a legal memo. Not an ICD. Not a bid.