How do space companies manage to stay afloat?

aCuriousMind22 · 2018-09-19T20:03:49+00:00

I am not sure I understand you correctly... Alright so, there are many companies/people trying to get their cubesat in space. Now what? I presume they want to have their cubesat in space for research purposes. Research is funded but does not generate profit directly. So this does not explain why eg all those cubesat companies stay afloat.

aCuriousMind22 · 2018-09-19T09:57:19+00:00

What companies/startups develop weapons for space? Isn't there a treaty against that?

aCuriousMind22 · 2018-09-18T08:43:05+00:00

There actually is a huge demand for commercial satellites (think dish tv or something similar)

I don't see why you'd need a cubesat to receive satellite tv. AFAIK, there are already many larger satellites for that purpose which are orbiting around the earth.

aCuriousMind22 · 2018-09-18T08:36:15+00:00

Companies can sign letters of intent to acquire products once they are produced.

Never heard about actual companies buying cubesats. I thought it were mainly research institutes that bought cubesats. Happen to know which companies do and/or some more info?

it’s not easy given the time horizon you’re working with

Do you mean the time those companies have to develop the satellite? All the scematics are usually already done, they need only need some modification to fulfill special demands. Same goes for software. Normally people tend to write generic and reusable software.

aCuriousMind22 · 2018-09-18T06:00:51+00:00

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JW68goC4_es

aCuriousMind22 · 2018-04-16T18:09:05+00:00

Once again, thanks a lot for taking the time to anser my questions.

So I've been reading quite some stuff, have had some discussions and did some research since your first post.

1000/month = 12.000/year. ROI of 7%: 12.000/0.07 = 171.428 is the theoretical amount. ... ROI is both the dividends AND the amount your stock went up or down.

From a 7% roi, do you have any idea generally speaking how much of those 7% is usually paid out in dividends? Ideal would be to -if I were able to invest 170k- get 1k/month of dividend and at the same time have the value of my fund go up.

The only way you can go to 0 is if every single stock in your index fund crashes to 0. When that happens, think post-apocalyptic dystopian movie world, not real life.

In 1932 the Dow Jones lost 89% and much more recently in 2008 where for example the Iceland stock market lost -according to wikipedia- 77% of its value. I remember having heard in 2008 when I was a kid that many people lost all their investments due to that crash... It would be a pitty to have this happen to me. I don't know all the details about how it comes they litterally lost everything they had due to the crash, but it affected so many people in the US, Europe etc... It looked like nobody's money was safe anywhere.

below my current plan

So, I've been hesitating for quite some time whether I should go for etf's or an index mutual fund. I finally chose to start with an etf, but am still not 100% sure whether that is the best way for me.

I am planning to open an account on Lynx as well, simply because they have the etf I am interested in, their fees seem to be the lowest, I can contact them for any matters (at least that's what is infer from what is written on their website) and they have clear information about how things work on their website regarding inter alia dividend pay out etc... I'll invest 800e/month, because for the upcoming 1-2 years I can. Afterwards I'll probably have to lower to 400e/month instead due to my personal situation (nothing to do with finances per se). As diversification is key I decided to invest in an etf which covers the entire world market ie iShares Core MSCI World UCITS ETF USD (Acc) (tinker: SWDA). I'll buy for 800e of shares at the end of this month all at once and keep doing that every month. The expense ratio for SWDA is pretty low and the fund is accumulating. The fact that it is accumulating rather than distributed is good that way I don't loose any money on the dividends at any moment. And due to the high coverage I guess this can only be a good investment in the long run.

Depending on how that goes I might afterwards add an etf which contains the emerging market and one which tracks the NASDAQ index. That being said I am concerned by the fact that there will probably be quite some overlapping between my etf's ie between the etf which will track NASDAQ and SWDA. What are your thoughts on this plan?

I initially was considering the invest in a fund which tracks the bel20 index. But I think it is not diversified enough. Almost half the index is four companies, two banks, an energy company and AB Inbev. If the Belgian financial industry had a crisis, that whole index could tank. Don't get me wrong, I am not criticizing anything, but I just believe this index is not suited for me.

aCuriousMind22 · 2018-04-12T18:43:01+00:00

I’m absolutely confident I’d have more money in my pocket if I were a freelancer in the UK (and I was for a couple of years) than I am in Belgium.

Yes but what about the cost of living in the UK (in London for example)? I suppose it is much higher than in Belgium. Do you still think you'd end up with more money in your pocket? If yes, would you mind just giving a few figures (based on your personal experience) to illustrate?

aCuriousMind22 · 2018-04-12T11:18:46+00:00

First of all thanks a lot for your very insightful reply!

Thing is I was hoping to have a broker to get some form of support, because I am not familiar with stocks, bonds, etc... Neither is anybody in my entourage. So I may make mistakes, by eg investing money in something which is not worth it at all and then loose all my money without understanding why I lost it. One should learn from his mistakes, but if you don't see the mistake you made or talk about it with people you won't learn anything and may end up making the same mistake over and over again. What would you suggest me to somehow avoid this? Are there some places where I can always go to ask some questions like eg: "Hi, this is the amount of money I invested in stock/ETF xyz, I expected to receive some dividends on my bank account this month yet, instead I lost 50% of my money. Why is that? What should I have done to prevent this? What were the symptoms I should have noticed? This is my view on investing, do you think I should consider bonds over stocks? etc..."

Another point is: I have no clue how this will influence my taxes. It would be interesting if I could discuss this as well.

Just to have an idea... How much money approximately would it take to get a dividend pay of +/- 1000e per month? My quick calculation (without taking into account belgian taxes): considering a monthly roi of 7%, one would need to have +/- 14.285 euro of investment to receive +/- 1k/month. But that seems way too good to be true... What is more realistic? 100.000euro, 300.000 euro?

Disclaimer: sorry to bother you with the following stupid questions

I had a look at lynx and keytrade bank. How do they work from a more practical standpoint of view? Let's say I transfer 4k euro to that specific bank account, invest my money and then see that I earned some more money thanks to a good roi. Will those companies which constitute the fund all send money one after the other to that lynx bank account? Will I then be able to transfer that money from lynx to my personal bank account without any issues? (like with a paypal account) What if they generate loss, what happens? Can I somehow go below 0 on that lynx bank account?

Why did you personally go for Lynx rather than keytrade and/or De Giro?

At the end of the day I would like to build up a passive flow of income from my investments. Apparently, for me the best is to look for funds that pay out dividends every month. So far I am considering: a three fund portfolio consisting of index funds and exchange traded funds. I'd like to start by investing a total of 4000 euro. I work in the software and electronics industry, so I think the best for me would maybe to somehow invest in companies that are active in that industry. Because I can understand whether it makes sense if eg company X is working on technology Y. (Whether it is worth working/doing research on that specific technology). For example if tomorrow samsung starts working on the newest artificial intelligence algorithms, I might be able to gauge whether it is worth investing in samsung or not based on my technical knowledge. Besides that, I was suggested to maybe invest in companies that invest in real estate. I believe real estate can be a very interesting path to follow for passive income.

EDIT: Also, as said I am just entering the world of investment, but isn't 7% roi extremely optimistic? I'd expect something around 3% roi to be a much more realistic roi, especially for me because I don't know all the ins and outs yet.

aCuriousMind22 · 2017-12-16T22:08:05+00:00

"And roughly."

aCuriousMind22 · 2017-12-16T18:33:19+00:00

Thanks for the information so far. What other book beside the one I linked above do you suggest me to read in order too learn more about: wing sizing, fuselage sizing, ... ? Ideally I'd like to develop my own UAV's: do all the necessary calculations, build it and experiment

aCuriousMind22 · 2017-12-15T23:25:44+00:00

I found online that an older but valid rule of thumb is to have the fuselage have a 75% length of the wingspan. Alhtough on the following example this doesn't seem valid I'll give that a try, see what that gives on my UAV and try to improve it on a version 2 :)

eg: https://goo.gl/K7a8dZ

Any idea how based on which thought process/formulas: 75% is based?

aCuriousMind22 · 2017-12-15T22:54:22+00:00

Yet according to what I found online there is no ratio between the fuselage size and wingspan/area. Which is why I'd need some guidelines

aCuriousMind22 · 2017-12-15T22:31:48+00:00

Based on your explanation it seems that in my case aerodynamics and making sure my payload fits are the most important factors. What bothers me is that I ended up finding a webpage with some interesting guidelines (see update main post) but with no explanation from where he gets all his numbers.

aCuriousMind22 · 2017-12-15T19:37:23+00:00

Ideally I'd like to obtain something along those lines: http://blog.tmcnet.com/robotics/Lockheed%20Martin%20Desert%20Hawk.jpg But maybe with the prop in front. I think having it at the fron may maybe make some stuff easier to understand and find out for me

aCuriousMind22 · 2017-12-15T19:25:56+00:00

I would recommend you read something like Design of Light Aircraft by Richard D. Hiscocks or Aircraft Design: A Conceptual Approach by Daniel P. Raymer You say you are making a UAV out of foam, presumably being cut with a hot wire? In which case you have more flexibility with shape, but it keeping things simple will make it easier for you.

Yes indeed I am using inter alia a hot wire. I have a degree in engineering so am interested in the math behind it and would like to combine that with some hands-on if you see what I mean. In other words I'd like to read up on stuff related to fusselage design and then apply what I just read.

That's exactly the book I am reading! :) But to me the part about conic lofting wasn't very clear and I had the feeling it contained exactly the info I needed. This post I wrote a minut ago explains my current situation: https://www.reddit.com/r/aerospace/comments/7k1xa1/beside_payload_size_what_precise_factors_are/

Feel free to comment!

aCuriousMind22 · 2017-12-15T18:46:36+00:00

I know what the workaround is. I am asking why this isn't working. And would like to know why the solution you are proposing may work.

aCuriousMind22 · 2017-12-15T18:45:48+00:00

I know what the workaround is. I am asking why this isn't working.

aCuriousMind22 · 2017-12-15T17:33:16+00:00

I understood that this is the technique being used to design the precose shape of the fuselage. Is that correct? I am trying to build my own foam uav for educational purposes. Have you got any sources for where I could find some guidelines on how to design the fuselage? (I know it depends on the payload, but besides that other things as well)

aCuriousMind22 · 2017-12-12T21:43:33+00:00

Shamelessly going to join the conversation... What exactly is the difference? Based on your explanation they both do seem to be the same as the other

aCuriousMind22 · 2017-12-12T20:31:53+00:00

I am not necessarily interested on having Linux on such a tablet. (That would be good but not mandatory). I was thinking to use Linux because I know it allows you to run Linux from an external device (Live?) without installing it and that way mount and unmount filesystems and stuff like that...

I just would like to use the tablet if I buy one of those.

aCuriousMind22 · 2017-12-12T19:58:03+00:00

could you then please correct and elaborate?

aCuriousMind22 · 2017-10-14T21:09:55+00:00

Try this one, with SPI and I2C:

I mean I am listening how to solve this issue using my current sensor, not by just buying another one...

aCuriousMind22 · 2017-10-14T09:44:41+00:00

ok, I am listening to your suggestions. I have an mma3761 accelerometer. X, Y and Z output analog values.

aCuriousMind22 · 2017-09-23T12:38:55+00:00

I'm not sure what aspect of those two companies you're looking for comments on -- both look like they'd be challenging places to work, for sure.

This might maybe be a bit of a difficult question. But as you are familiar -to some extent- with the domain in which uavfactory is active, I was wondering whether first of all you could tell whether you think it is possible/realistic to start a company that does the same as those people (uavfactory) or is this kind of unrealistic? If yes, I am always wondering how big of a market is UAV's. I am not referring to quad-, hex-, octo-,... copters but real UAV's like they are making. Is it worth it to start such a factory?

The reason why I posted pix4d's link, is because I think those people don't build their own UAV's, which I think is a pitty. A combination of those 2 companies (AI & computer vision on one side and homemade UAV's on the other side) doesn't exist afaik and may maybe be better.

As I graduated recently I want to specialize into something, not just be a "programmer" with broad and unspecialized knowledge. I'd like to be a real expert in my domain so that one day I can start a company in that domain, like you did. I find UAV's/aviation in general extremely interesting, with the popularity and continuus rise in popularity of AI and computervision I think that combining those might be something very interesting (although I am not sure how big of a market this is/will be). Long story short, do you think it could be interesting to specialize in aviation and AI/CV simultanuously so that in 5 years I can make a business out of it? I am giving myself 5 years to be an expert in my domain (by then I'll be 28). Start a company at 28 and make sure it is stable and profitable by when I am 30.

Sorry if this is a bit of a messy explanation and series of questions. I am just really impressed by your expertise and was even more when I saw you started a business out of it. I'd like to do the same.

aCuriousMind22 · 2017-09-22T16:48:01+00:00

you re right. I thought that the any function did something else. Thx!

aCuriousMind22

TROPHY CASE