A Cost Model for a University Satellite Program

A number of universities are involved in designing small satellites for research or for educational projects. The amateur radio community is also engaged in similar projects. Study of the economic basis for these projects shows a number of common elements such as the number of people involved, degree of dedication, use of available hardware, and schedule span times. This paper is an attempt to summarize this experience and formulate a common economic model as an aid to planning future projects and examining process characteristics of such programs.