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Category: satellites

COLORADO SPRINGS — The U.S. Space Force is transferring the launch of a GPS satellite from United Launch Alliance (ULA) to SpaceX in an effort to reduce a backlog of satellites waiting in storage.

The GPS III SV-08 satellite, the eighth in the GPS III constellation, is now scheduled to launch no earlier than late May aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, the Space Systems Command announced April 7.

This marks the second time in recent months that the Space Force has reassigned a GPS launch from ULA to SpaceX. Last year, the GPS III SV-07 satellite was moved from a planned ULA Vulcan rocket launch in late 2025 to a SpaceX Falcon 9, which successfully launched on December 16 in a mission called Rapid Response Trailblazer.

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A research team has developed the world’s first quantum microsatellite and demonstrated real-time quantum key distribution (QKD) between the satellite and multiple compact, mobile ground stations.

The research, led by Pan Jianwei, Peng Chengzhi, and Liao Shengkai from USTC, jointly with the Jinan Institute of Quantum Technology, Shanghai Institute of Technical Physics, the Innovation Academy for Microsatellites of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Stellenbosch University of South Africa, is published in Nature.

Quantum secure communication is fundamental to national information security and socioeconomic development. QKD, a communication method with proven unconditional security, significantly enhances data transmission security. While fiber-based QKD networks have achieved regional implementation, their practical application over long distances remains constrained by signal loss and limited coverage. Satellite-based systems present a viable solution through free-space communication, potentially enabling QKD on a global scale.

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IN A NUTSHELL 🚀 Pulsar Fusion is developing the Sunbird, a fusion-powered rocket, to significantly reduce interplanetary travel times by 2027. 🔬 The Sunbird uses a Duel Direct Fusion Drive (DDFD) engine, promising unprecedented exhaust speeds and efficiency. 🛰️ The rocket will operate as a space “tugboat,” stationed in orbital satellite docks for missions to

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Don’t judge space junk’s potential for destruction using your Earthly instincts: Traveling at tens of thousands of miles per hour in space, even a small object has the potential to inflict major damage. In one incident that demonstrates that fact of physics, a 2mm piece of space once junk put a 5cm-wide dent in a climate satellite. A modest move up the scale brings much more power: “A one-centimeter piece of debris has the energy of a hand grenade,” ESA’s Tiago Soares told DW.

In an ominous 2009 incident, a Russian Cosmos satellite collided with an Iridium satellite, creating a cloud of about 2,000 pieces of junk measuring 10cm or more. That’s brings us to the nightmare scenario that should fill you with dread: The Kessler Effect. Imagine an initial major impact that creates hundreds of shards, which then start colliding with more orbiting objects, setting off a chain reaction. Actually, you don’t need your imagination. While some scientists say it wasn’t fully accurate in depicting the physics, Hollywood ventured to depict the Kessler Effect in the 2013 movie, Gravity:

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WASHINGTON — Maxar Intelligence developed a visual-based navigation technology that enables aerial drones to operate without relying on GPS, the company announced March 25.

The software, called Raptor, provides a terrain-based positioning system for drones in GPS-denied environments by leveraging detailed 3D models created from Maxar’s satellite imagery. Instead of using satellite signals, a drone equipped with Raptor compares its real-time camera feed with a pre-existing 3D terrain model to determine its position and orientation.

Peter Wilczynski, chief product officer at Maxar Intelligence, explained that the Raptor software has three main components. One is installed directly on the drone, enabling real-time position determination. Another application georegisters the drone’s video feed with Maxar’s 3D terrain data. A separate laptop-based application works alongside drone controllers, allowing operators to extract precise ground coordinates from aerial video feeds.

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The Los Alamos National Laboratory has introduced the “Spacecraft Speedometer,” a novel technology for tracking satellites in low Earth orbit. This compact, resource-efficient device can precisely measure a satellite’s speed as it orbits the planet. Researchers believe it could also serve as a tracking solution for deep-space missions.

Designed to provide onboard, real-time velocity measurements, the Spacecraft Speedometer enables space agencies and commercial operators to predict satellite positions and execute orbital maneuvers to avoid collisions with other satellites or space debris.

Los Alamos developed the system in response to increasing congestion in LEO, where the number of active satellites surged from 2,287 in 2019 to over 10,000 in 2024. With the rise of mega-constellations, traffic management challenges are expected to grow even more severe.

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Japan’s fledgling space defense sector is taking its cues from the US Space Development Agency, which is pursuing a novel concept based on constellations of small satellites and maximum use of existing commercial technologies. Space policy researcher Umeda Kota discusses the challenges facing Japan as it embraces the SDA’s “proliferated architecture” for military communications, missile detection and tracking, and other purposes.

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Discovering new deposits of critical and rare earth minerals is paramount to delivering global net-zero ambitions. However, finding new ore bodies is becoming more challenging due to increasing costs and geopolitical tensions. What is more, much of the low-hanging fruit, so to speak, has already been exploited.

Could technological advances help broaden the search and speed up the process? Dr Bryony Richards, a senior research scientist with the Energy & Geoscience Institute at the University of Utah in the US, believes so.

Richards and her colleagues are incorporating NASA’s and Japan’s global Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) imagery with that of new satellite data, advances in computing power and AI. With this approach, they are developing a comprehensive first-of-a-kind method to uncover the ‘fingerprints’ of mineral deposits that could eventually provide a more cost and time-effective way of mapping minerals in remote areas.

Researchers in Utah are combining satellites, hyperspectral imaging and AI to discover mineral deposits in remote locations.

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