[ExI] Engineering

[Adrian Tymes]

Thinking about it - Keith, how about this as a first step?

Design the satellite.  Just the satellite: skip the rocket
that will carry it up, or any ground system needed to
make use of it, for now.

Make a complete list of parts.  Every solar panel, every
faring, every piece of electronics.  Find at least one
commercial source for each, preferably at least two.

If possible, get a price (or at least an estimate) for each
part.  Omit labor costs, except where those are
integral to obtaining the part (such as if a manufacturer
will pre-mold aluminum to your casing's shape, which
is included in the cost of obtaining aluminum from that
vendor).

For now, omit any labor costs that your organization
would have to provide, such as programming and
assembling the satellite.

If you're concerned that you might not live to see this
aloft - even if you kick the bucket right after publishing
this parts list, this will be useful in someday getting
the satellite you propose into orbit.

That said, I suspect this will take you less than a year
if you have a good design in mind, and I suspect you
have better than even odds of seeing 2014.  Once you
have the parts list out, you'll have a better idea of how
to make the satellite happen.

It won't cost billions of dollars just to make the parts
list.