Tag: satellites

The launch of NOAA’s powerful new GOES-U weather satellite did not disappoint. The satellite took off on Tuesday (June 25) atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket in a picture-perfect launch under a clear blue sky at Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The launch marked the 10th launch of Falcon Heavy, and lofted the fourth and final member of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) GOES-R series of weather spacecraft. Four and a half hours after take off, Falcon Heavy’s second stage deployed GOES-U into space…

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Eye-patches on! Practice your best “grrr.” Plop down pieces of eight, doubloons and cue “Captain” Jack Sparrow! Get ready for the First Annual Space Piracy Conference, set for early next year. Held by the Center for the Study of Space Crime, Policy, and Governance (CSCPG), the conference is a “two-day, invite only symposium that brings together experts prepared to review crime, piracy, and smuggling in space,” according to its website. “Be among the first to discuss mitigating space crime and piracy, from the perspectives of investment, space law, space policy, intelligence,…

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The thought of beaming power to an energy-hungry Earth from space has long been studied. It was first proposed over 80 years ago in science fiction.  “It was quiet in the officer’s room of Solar Station #5 – except for the soft purring of the mighty Beam Director somewhere far below,” wrote renowned author Isaac Asimov in his April 1941 story “Reason” appearing in the magazine “Astounding Science Fiction.” Asimov had his characters tending a solar energy collection station in space that routed energy rays to receivers on Earth, as…

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As the space around Earth becomes increasingly cluttered with human-made junk, scientists are ramping up their efforts to safeguard satellites in real time. The latest in that effort are new algorithms being developed at the University of Central Florida (UCF) to automatically monitor and protect spacecraft from bumping into satellites and asteroids in cislunar space — the realm between Earth and the moon, which is under the gravitational influence of both celestial bodies.  Because cislunar space is so vast, tracking and predicting the orbits of satellites, spent rocket stages and…

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SES plans to buy fellow satellite operator Intelsat, in a deal that could help the combined company compete with SpaceX’s huge Starlink broadband network. Luxembourg-based SES is acquiring Virginia-based multinational Intelsat for $3.1 billion in a deal that’s expected to close next year, the two companies announced today (April 30).  “In a fast-moving and competitive satellite communication industry, this transaction expands our multi-orbit space network, spectrum portfolio, ground infrastructure around the world, go-to-market capabilities, managed service solutions and financial profile,” SES CEO Adel Al-Saleh said in a statement.  “I am…

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Russia vetoed a United Nations resolution that was aimed at preventing a nuclear arms race in space. The resolution was sponsored by the United States and Japan and called upon all nations to never deploy nuclear weapons in outer space. The resolution comes on the heels of recent reports that Russia is developing a nuclear anti-satellite weapon of some kind. The furor caused by the reports led the White House to issue a statement that the rumored weapon poses “no immediate threat to anyone’s safety.” Thirteen nations, including the United…

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The continued push for space domain awareness comes with contracts between the U.S. Space Force and space services companies to create missions that will align with national security needs.  Earlier this month, Rocket Lab announced a $32 million contract with Space Systems Command (SSC), an organization within the U.S. Space Force responsible for the service’s development and acquisition of new space technologies and capabilities. The contract is to develop a spacecraft and command and control center for the VICTUS HAZE Tactically Responsive Space (TacRS) mission that aims to quicken the…

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NASA’s pioneering CloudSat weather and climate mission has come to an end after nearly 18 productive years in Earth orbit.  The agency recently decommissioned the satellite, which launched in April 2006 on a planned 22-month mission to study the structure and composition of clouds.  “As planned, the spacecraft — having reached the end of its lifespan and no longer able to make regular observations — was lowered into an orbit last month that will result in its eventual disintegration in the atmosphere,” NASA officials wrote in an update on Tuesday (April…

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In late March, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) announced that one of its satellite missions “practically left zero debris in orbit” after a spent rocket stage was lowered to burn up in Earth’s atmosphere during re-entry.  Similar deorbiting techniques will be used to make future missions “debris-free” by the end of this decade, ISRO Chairman S. Somanath said last week. “Over the years, sufficient skill has been developed within ISRO in dealing with topics related to debris management,” Somanath said in a session hosted by the Inter-Agency Space Debris…

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