Current route

Personal satellite: verified LEO message.

CosmosExplore now maps a practical first arc: define a small payload, reach low Earth orbit through compliant hosted or rideshare paths, receive a verified message on the ground, and keep safety, spectrum, debris, and non-commercial boundaries visible.

Open the North Star roadmap Read the four-problem note Open the access map

What changed

The Moon remains the long arc. LEO is the first accountable milestone.

The original CosmosExplore question was lunar access: which costs, logistics, and risks make the Moon behave like national infrastructure? That question remains. The near-term practical path is now smaller and more inspectable.

The first personal milestone is not a private orbital rocket, a commercial communications service, or a passenger route. It is an uncrewed learning mission: a compliant small payload or satellite that can send one authenticated, logged, verifiable message from low Earth orbit.

That reframes the project into four problems: transmission, access to orbit, sustainment, and control or recovery. Every public page should keep those problems separate from authorization, safety, and operating claims.

First four problems

The path is a boundary graph, not a parts list.

First four problemsTransmissionA message matters only if the signal path is identifiable, authorized, received, logged, and checked. Link budget belongs next to frequency authorization.

First four problemsAccess to orbitThe default route is hosted payload, rideshare, or educational/non-profit partnership. Self-developed orbital launch is outside this hobby path.

First four problemsSustainmentSmall spacecraft still need power, thermal limits, onboard computing, safe mode, battery safety, and an end-of-mission disposal case.

First four problemsControl / recoveryFor the first LEO milestone, recovery means data and state first. Command uplink and attitude control remain boundary topics, not casual features.

Operating boundary

The current public scope stays personal, non-commercial, and source-backed.

No commercial communications, remote-sensing service, launch service, or funding story is implied.
No frequency, power, antenna, modulation, command, attitude-control, propulsion, or launch-operation recipe is published.
Regulatory nodes point to official sources and review dates; they are not legal advice or authorization.
Planner v0 is intentionally absent until OPUS reviews a deterministic registry lookup design.

Open the North Star roadmap Open the mission ladder Start with the LEO message Personal satellite mission

First milestoneLEO messageverified, logged

New nodes33personal satellite first wave

Registries3mission / regulatory / safety