Space VR has signed an agreement to launch a virtual reality satellite in 2017. The satellite will be sent to International Space Station using SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The small startup has contracted NanoRacks, a company which runs the laboratory abroad the international space station to prepare Overview 1. This SpaceVR’s twin –camera cube satellite is for releasing into low Earth orbit using NanoRacks CubeSat Deployer. The new satellite is expected to launch early next summer and will head to ISS inside one of SpaceX’s Dragon cargo capsules during the CRS-12 resupply mission.
Kickstarted in 2015, SpaceVR planned to send a 12-camera rig to the ISS which would be capable of shooting 360-degree, 3D footage. Being crowdfunding, the campaign fell way too short of the goal of $500,000 which made a reason for its cancellation after a month. Tried again retooling its goals and achieved a modest goal of $100,000. Earlier this April, the company made a statement that it has received an investment of $1.25 million. SpaceVR mentioned that the company is investing that money towards assimilating two cameras into a small cube satellite which independently orbits the earth.
VR users can experience Physical Impression with the $25,000 Baxter Robot and HTC Vive
“We have a radio, we have an attitude control system, we have reaction wheels and gyroscopes that maintain stability, and we have flight controller software that tells the satellite what to do and when,” said SpaceVR CEO Ryan Holmes.
SpaceVR acquires all the control over Overview1 once it gets ejected from the Cubesat Deployer on the ISS. The footages from the camera will be taken by the company and stitch it all into a 360-degree sphere with live-streaming. The company wants to sell footage subscriptions which will “immerse someone in spaces as if they were floating outside” according to Holmes. The company is finally ready to deliver what they promise.
