Author: starpathwp-production
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Air Canada Taps Intelsat to Equip 100 More Aircraft With IFC
Air Canada is expanding its in-flight connectivity (IFC) deal with Intelsat, ordering Intelsat’s IFC solution for nearly 100 more aircraft, the companies announced Tuesday. Intelsat and its IFC predecessor, Gogo, have worked with the flagship Canadian air carrier for 14 years. Intelsat currently operates in-flight internet on 240 aircraft on Air Canada, Rouge, and Air…
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NASA’s SpaceX Crew-6 Safely Returns to Earth from International Space Station
After splashing down safely in a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft off the coast of Jacksonville, Florida, NASA’s SpaceX Crew-6 completed the agency’s sixth commercial crew rotation mission to the International Space Station. The international crew of four spent 186 days in orbit. NASA astronauts Stephen Bowen and Woody Hoburg, as well as UAE (United Arab Emirates)…
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SES Defense to Demonstrate Multi-Orbit Broadband for DEUCSI Program
The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) awarded SES Space & Defense a multi-year contract to conduct tests of broadband service across a multi-orbit satellite network. The award announced Tuesday is part of the Defense Experimentation Using Commercial Space Internet (DEUCSI) program, which is a program for the U.S. Department of Defense to test military…
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NASA’s Lunar Orbiter Provides Crucial Scientific Data for Training Artemis Astronauts
When astronauts set off for a trip around the Moon in 2024 with NASA’s Artemis II mission, they will go primed with knowledge of lunar landmarks gathered by one of the Agency’s premiere robotic missions to our nearest cosmic neighbor. NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), launched in 2009, has returned a treasure trove of scientific…
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NASA modifies ML-1 for Artemis II, ML-2 under construction for SLS Block IB
As construction begins to assemble the Mobile Launcher-2 (ML-2) for Artemis IV, Mobile Launcher-1 (ML-1) secured its position once again back on top of Launch Complex 39B for pad validation and testing. This comes after ML-1 spent the better part of this year undergoing repairs and upgrades outside of the VAB at the West Park…
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ESA Conducts Successful Engine Tests for All-New Ariane 6 Launch Vehicle
Validation testing continues for ESA’s all-new Ariane 6 launch vehicle, with the firing of its two upper-stage engines to simulate the way they will have to operate together during a flight. The test of the full upper stage including the new Vinci engine and a smaller Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) took place on a purpose-built…
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iLAuNCH Trailblazer to Build Durable Satellites and Structures Using Additive Manufacturing
The first iLAuNCH Trailblazer project is underway to establish an advanced manufacturing facility that will design and deliver stronger more durable satellite and hypersonic vehicle structures using additive manufacturing (AM). Additive manufacturing, the process of creating an object by building it one layer at a time has disrupted the traditional manufacturing world, where subtractive manufacturing,…
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Second Slate of SDA Tranche 0 Satellites are On Orbit
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lofted 13 satellites for the U.S. Space Force’s Space Development Agency (SDA) Tranche 0 effort into orbit on Sept. 2 from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California. The second Tranche 0 launch included 10 Lockheed Martin Transport Layer satellites, one York Space Systems’ Transport Layer satellite, and two SpaceX Tracking Layer satellites. The SDA Low-Earth…
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Solar Orbiter discovers plasma jets that could fuel the production of solar wind
Recently, the joint European Space Agency (ESA)/NASA Solar Orbiter spacecraft discovered an array of tiny jets of material being ejected from the Sun’s outer atmosphere. Ejecting plasma at 100 kilometers per second, the jets last for just 20 to 100 seconds, and could be the source of solar wind. Solar wind is made up of…
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Crew Dragon safely splashes down east of Jacksonville
Crew Dragon streaks through the midnight sky as seen from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. Image: Will Robinson-Smith/Spaceflight Now. Blazing like a shooting star as it streaked high above northern Florida, a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft carried four space station fliers back to Earth early Monday, splashing down in the Atlantic Ocean east of Jacksonville to…