Wrap your satellite with measuring tape and tie fishing wire to the end of the satellite. When high voltage is applied to each end of the nichrome wire, it becomes hot and will cut the fishing wire to deploy the antenna.
Many artists and hobbyists use Arduino to realize their projects. Using an Arduino board as the main controller for the satellite will give OSSI the chance to cooperate with many creative individuals.
However, to use a bare Arduino board in a space environment might be hard. To mitigate radiation effects, a watchdog timer and current sensors are added. Also the microcontroller is upgraded from commercial to automotive grade to cope with severe temperature changes in space.
MAX706 Watchdog Timer
MAX4836 Current Sensor
Arduino Duemilanove by arduino.cc
