Like with a newborn, a name is something that parents approach in different ways. Some go through the pregnancy trying to decide on a name they like. Some have a name picked out in advance, well before conception. Some wait till the baby is born before they decide on a name.
Having never been involved with the build of an actual satellite before, I was not sure what to do. I've only just decided to build a proof of concept "engineering model" PocketQube. I'm not sure what it's purpose is yet. I'm not even sure if it's something I'm capable of building. I don't know if I'll have the resources to progress the idea past a certain point.
BUT, I'll give it a shot! So while I'm formulating a plan for this endeavour, I thought it would be better if I gave it a name, so that my obsession can have a focus. ( plus it gives my wife a specific thing to refer to, rather than call me Space Geek)
I've experienced naming children, so surely this couldn't be too far removed?
So what does one do in this day and age? Well.... I emailed people and Googled names.
Being a relatively new standard, there aren't many birds flying yet, so there's not alot of risk in having the same name as an existing PocketQube. I looked at names of CubeSat's. I looked at Australia's involvement in the space industry ( didn't have to look far, but it eliminated Aussat from the list of potential names)
After all that, I wanted something simple, that referred to 2 things - Australia and PocketQubes.
The result:
OzQube-1
(Because it could be the first of many!)
