Author: starpathwp-production
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Starship: VCs Get Ready for the Next Big Opportunity in Space
I would hazard a guess that most Via Satellite readers have been following Starship’s development tests fairly closely, or at the very least, watching the livestream tests. But to recap: Starship is designed for a wide variety of missions – Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) to Geostationary Orbit (GEO), lunar missions, and, of course, Mars and beyond.…
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SpaceX launched 21 Starlink satellites on Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base
A stack of SpaceX Starlink satellites, which included the first six featuring Direct to Cell capabilities. The batch launched on the Starlink 7-9 mission, which lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base on Jan. 2, 2024. Image: SpaceX Update 6:23 a.m. EDT: SpaceX confirmed successful deployment of the 21 Starlink satellites. Hours after a successful…
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The Legal Impact of AI for Space in the EU
AI is being increasingly used in satellite systems and for the provision and development of satellite products and services. This raises issues on the impacts and limits on the use of AI for the space sector in light of the development of legislation addressing Artificial Intelligence. The new EU AI Act (at the time of…
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FEEP: Field Emission Electric Propulsion
Changing Perspective on Electric Propulsion With more than 200 propulsion systems in space and an accumulated on-orbit time of over 400 years Field Emission Electric Propulsion (FEEP) technology has become one of the most mature and robust space propulsion technologies in the industry. ENPULSION’s FEEP propulsion systems have been used for a wide range of…
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NASA nears decision on what to do with Boeing’s troubled Starliner spacecraft
The astronauts who rode Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft to the International Space Station last month still don’t know when they will return to Earth. Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams have been in space for 51 days, six weeks longer than originally planned, as engineers on the groundwork through problems with Starliner’s propulsion system. The problems…
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Inside NASA’s booth and mission at EAA Oshkosh 2024 – X-59, drones, and more
NASA X-59 lead test pilot, Nils Larson, stands in front of a model of the aircraft at a forum during EAA Oshkosh 2024. Image: Seth Kurkowski / Space Explored The aircraft is currently in the system testing phase of development, the phase right before first flight. In a few weeks Pearce said the engine will…
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ULA prepares for final Atlas 5 launch supporting a national security payload
United Launch Alliance rolled its Atlas 5 551 rocket to the launchpad at Space Launch Complex 41 (SLC-41) on Saturday, July 27, 2024, ahead of the USSF-51 launch on Tuesday, July 30. Image: Will Robinson-Smith/Spaceflight Now United Launch Alliance is preparing to launch an Atlas 5 rocket its 58th and final national security mission on…
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SpaceX roars back to orbit barely two weeks after in-flight anomaly
Early on Saturday morning, at 1:45 am local time, a Falcon 9 rocket soared into orbit from its launch site at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. By some measures this was an extremely routine mission—it was, after all, SpaceX’s 73rd launch of this calendar year. And like many other Falcon 9 launches this year, the…
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Akima Wins $480M US Space Force Contract to Support the Satellite Control Network
Five Rivers Analytics has won a major new U.S. Space Force contract worth up to nearly half a billion dollars. The company, a subsidiary of Akima, has won the Satellite Control Network Tracking Station Operations, Remote Site and Mission Partner Support (STORMS) contract to support the U.S. Space Force. The indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ)…
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Falcon 9’s return to flight reminds spaceflight industry of past anomalies
Nearly every rocket that has flown has had an anomaly. With thousands of components that all need to work in perfect harmony to have a successful mission, there is likely to be one component that is unable to perform every once in a while. While witnessing an anomaly in spaceflight is not as improbable as…