So, this is a little bittersweet: Space Dynamics Laboratory (SDL) and the Utah State University Research Foundation sent a brochure to me in the mail announcing the Small Satellite conference (SmallSat) for next year. Guess someone forgot to take me off the mailing list…
We parted on amicable terms and small satellites, like cubesats, are some of the reasons I responded to SDL’s call to work for them. That, and SDL is a good company to work for with good people. They treated me well, and liked what I did. Those reasons are why I’m going to pass this announcement on to you.
On to the announcement (the details which you can find here), which is a request for abstract submissions regarding the commerce of small satellites. These are the topics (you can find them here, too) they’d like to cover:
1)Private endeavors, 2)advanced technologies, 3)intelligent software systems, 4)next on the pad, 5)the year in review, 6)from earth to orbit, 7)standards and modularity, and 8)education.
Abstracts, per this page, are due 11 February 2014. Since I’m not really in on this, I may have missed some topics.
If you have an exhibit to set up in a booth, then you can register here. But, you can also just attend and listen to the speakers. They can be quite engaging. Just go to this page to see what needs to be done to attend (it’s cheaper if you’re a student).
If you have the means, the time, want to network with people of similar interests face-to-face, and want to learn some of the newest topics about small satellites, I urge you to attend. There’re also some great evening activities. The last time I attended this conference, I threw tomahawks and shot an arrow (not very well)–then I ate some great barbecue.
If you intend to attend–you might want to get a hotel room early. They fill up quickly.
The Mad Spaceball 