PongSat

PongSats are high-altitude near space missions that hold a probe or other project that can fit inside a ping-pong (table tennis) ball. The launch program is run by a volunteer organization, JP Aerospace (which also provided balloon launch services for the Space Chair.)

JP Aerospace succeeded in its first launch of PongSat missions, with a balloon-launched rocket (AKA a rockoon), at the West Texas Spaceport near Fort Stockton, in October 2002. The launcher reached {{cvt|100,000|ft|km}} with 64 hosted PongSats."Space Balls", Popular Mechanics, April 2003 [https://books.google.com/books?id=b88DAAAAMBAJ&dq=pongsat&pg=PA28]

Many of the flights have been funded through a KickStarter crowdfunding campaign.{{Cite news

| first = Nathan

| last = Hurst

| title = Send Anything to the Edge of Space, for Free

| url = https://www.wired.com/2012/07/pongsats/

| publisher = Wired

| date = 2012-07-30

| access-date = 2021-08-22

}}

Although many PongSats contain things like food items, simply because schoolchildren are curious about the result, other missions include "multiple sensors and complex mini-computers".{{Cite news

| first = Sarah

| last = Kessler

| title = 8 Space Experiments That Fit In A Ping-Pong Ball

| url = https://www.fastcompany.com/3010888/8-space-experiments-that-fit-in-a-ping-pong-ball

| publisher = Fast Company

| date = 2018-08-01

| access-date = 2021-08-22

}}

It's been described by its founder as part of "America's Other Space Program," but also as one that relies "primarily on volunteers and helium."{{Cite news

| first =

| last =

| title = Flight of the PongSats

| url = https://www.airspacemag.com/videos/category/space-exploration/flight-of-the-pongsats_1/

| publisher = Air & Space

| date =

| access-date = 2021-08-22

}}

SpaceHub Southeast has organized several PongSat flights from Atlanta.{{Cite web |last=TopSpacer |date=2013-02-25 |title=Students of Space Hub Southeast fly PongSats |url=https://hobbyspace.com/Blog/?p=839 |access-date=2024-02-27 |website=Space-for-All at HobbySpace |language=en}}

According to founder John Powell, the PongSat launch program is very global, with payloads delivered to JP Aerospace from "Poland, India, Japan, Slovenia, Germany, Belgium, Turkey, China, Australia, Indonesia."{{Cite news

| first = Leonard

| last = David

| author-link =

| title = Ping-Pong Ball 'Satellites' Have Balloon Ride to Edge of Space

| url = https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/ping-pong-ball-satellites/

| publisher = Scientific American

| date = 2012-09-14

| access-date = 2021-08-22

}}