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Archive for the ‘satellites’ category: Page 45

Mar 26, 2023

SpaceX may have to deorbit some of its new Starlink V2 Mini satellites

Posted by in categories: Elon Musk, internet, satellites

SpaceX / Twitter.

The SpaceX CEO explained that some satellites would likely have to be deorbited to burn up in Earth’s atmosphere.

Mar 23, 2023

Startup’s 3D-printed rocket delivers stunning night launch but fails to reach orbit

Posted by in categories: energy, satellites

(CNN) — Startup Relativity Space sent what it’s calling the “world’s first 3D-printed rocket” toward space on Wednesday, vaulting it into the upper reaches of the atmosphere. Though, it suffered an engine issue after launch and failed to reach orbit.

Terran 1, a 110-foot-tall (33.5-meter) vehicle designed to haul lightweight satellites into orbital space, lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Florida’s eastern coast at just before 11:30 pm ET. The rocket, powered by super-chilled methane and oxygen, burned a bright blue-green against the night sky.

After the first stage of the rocket — the bottommost portion of the rocket that gives the initial thrust at liftoff — expended its fuel, it detached from the rocket’s upper stage. But the engine meant to propel that portion appeared to ignite only briefly, leaving the rocket without enough power to reach orbit.

Mar 22, 2023

Penultimate Delta rocket to launch next month on ULA’s first mission of 2023

Posted by in categories: government, satellites, security, surveillance

United Launch Alliance’s second-to-last Delta 4-Heavy rocket is scheduled to blast off from Cape Canaveral April 20 with a classified cargo for the U.S. government’s spy satellite agency, a mission that will mark ULA’s first flight of the year, officials announced this week.

ULA and the National Reconnaissance Office, the customer for the national security mission, announced the target launch date Tuesday.

The mission is known as NROL-68, and is expected to loft a large surveillance satellite into geosynchronous orbit, joining a fleet of government-owned spacecraft designed to eavesdrop on the communications of adversaries and foreign powers. But the NRO does not disclose details about its missions, and independent analysts use information about the rocket’s lift capability, trajectory, and similar past launches to predict the purpose of spy satellite missions.

Mar 19, 2023

China to launch lobster eye-like X-ray astronomical satellite this year

Posted by in categories: cosmology, physics, satellites

It’s called the Einstein Probe and it’s meant to observe the changing universe.

China has ambitious plans to launch a new X-ray astronomical satellite called the Einstein Probe (EP) at the end of this year. This is according to a report by the ChinaDaily.

“The satellite has entered the final stage of development,” he said at the recent 35th National Symposium on Space Exploration.

Continue reading “China to launch lobster eye-like X-ray astronomical satellite this year” »

Mar 18, 2023

The FCC Agrees to Help SpaceX & T-Mobile Offer Cell Phone Service From Space

Posted by in categories: mobile phones, satellites

This week the FCC voted 4–0 to approve a new effort to help satellite providers like SpaceX offer wireless cell phone service from space. SpaceX’s Starlink service already had a deal in place with T-Mobile to offer phone service in areas that currently does not have it.

“The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking adopted today proposes a framework through which satellite operators collaborating with terrestrial service providers would be able to obtain FCC authorization to operate space stations on certain currently licensed, flexible-use spectrum allocated to terrestrial services. The Commission is proposing to add a mobile-satellite service allocation on some terrestrial flexible-use bands.” The FCC said in a statement.

The FCC went on to say that this service could “serve a wireless provider’s customers should they need connectivity in remote areas, for example in the middle of the Chihuahuan Desert, Lake Michigan, the 100-Mile Wilderness, or the Uinta Mountains.”

Mar 18, 2023

Scientists discover answer to the mystery of cloudy filters on satellites

Posted by in categories: physics, satellites

There’s a mystery happening in some satellites facing the sun, and scientists from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) are on the case. The team has been trying to figure out what is clouding up and compromising the performance of tiny, thin metal membranes that filter sunlight as it enters detectors that monitor the sun’s ultraviolet (UV) rays.

These detectors can warn us about impending solar storms—bursts of radiation from the surface of the sun—that could reach Earth and temporarily disrupt communications or interfere with GPS readings.

Last year, the team disproved the prevailing theory: that this clouding was a buildup of carbon on the surface of the filters from organic sources stowing away on the satellite.

Mar 17, 2023

Hot topic: How heat flow affects the Earth’s magnetic field

Posted by in category: satellites

Compass readings that do not show the direction of true north and interference with the operations of satellites are a few of the problems caused by peculiarities of the Earth’s magnetic field.

The magnetic field radiates around the world and far into space, but it is set by processes that happen deep within the Earth’s core, where temperatures exceed 5,000 degrees Celsius.

New research from geophysicists at the University of Leeds suggests that the way this super-hot core is cooled is key to understanding the causes of the peculiarities—or , as scientists call them—of the Earth’s magnetic field.

Mar 13, 2023

Starlink faces competition, OneWeb one launch away from global internet

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, Elon Musk, finance, internet, satellites

The firm faced financial collapse during the pandemic but is now serving customers in 15 countries.

U.K.-based OneWeb is one launch away from having enough satellites in orbit to cover the entire expanse of the Earth. Once ready, Elon Musk’s Starlink won’t be the only company offering such as service, the BBC

Continue reading “Starlink faces competition, OneWeb one launch away from global internet” »

Mar 13, 2023

In defense of space colonies and mining the high frontier

Posted by in categories: energy, finance, internet, satellites, sustainability

Exploiting the natural and energy resources of the moon and asteroids can spark a space-based industrial revolution that could be a boon to all humankind. Pure science alone will be enough reason for the people who pay the bills to finance space exploration. Accessing the wealth that exists beyond the Earth is more than enough incentive for both public and private investment. Science will benefit. Someone will have to prospect for natural and energy resources in space and to develop safe and sustainable ways to exploit it.

Conflict between scientists and commercial space is already happening. Astronomers complain that SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet constellation is ruining ground-based observation. Some critics fear that commercial exploitation of the moon’s resources will impede the operation of telescopes on the far side of the moon.

Mar 11, 2023

Elon Musk, SpaceX, Car Racing, & History of Space — Jim Cantrell — 166 — Learning with Lowell

Posted by in categories: Elon Musk, robotics/AI, satellites

Jim Cantrell is an entrepreneur, strategist, subject matter expert in satellite systems, space system markets and road racer. Founder of StratSpace, Founder of Vintage Exotics Competition Engineering, early partner and VP at SpaceX.

Links.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Cantrell.
https://twitter.com/jamesncantrell?lang=en.
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18894007.Jim_Cantrell.
http://www.jimcantrell.com/book (new book)

Continue reading “Elon Musk, SpaceX, Car Racing, & History of Space — Jim Cantrell — 166 — Learning with Lowell” »

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