Author: starpathwp-production
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Engineers at NASA Complete Installation of High-Gain Antenna on Europa Clipper
NASA’s Europa Clipper is designed to seek out conditions suitable for life on the ice-covered moon of Jupiter. On Aug. 14, the spacecraft received a piece of hardware central to that quest: the massive dish-shaped high-gain antenna. Stretching 10 feet (3 meters) across the spacecraft’s body, the high-gain antenna is the largest and most prominent…
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Rocket Lab Signs Double Launch Deal with NASA for Climate Change Research Mission
Rocket Lab USA, a launch services and space systems company, announced it has signed a double-launch deal with NASA to deliver the Agency’s climate change research-focused mission, PREFIRE, to low Earth orbit in 2024. The two dedicated missions on Electron will deploy one small satellite each to a 525km circular orbit from Rocket Lab Launch…
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SpeQtral Taps NanoAvionics and Mbryonics for Quantum Mission
SpeQtral has tapped Kongsberg NanoAvionics (NanoAvionics) and Mbryonics to build its SpeQtral-1 satellite. The deal was announced Aug. 16. SpeQtral-1 is aimed at providing communications services that require quantum security, as it says traditional cryptographic techniques are threatened by the emergence of quantum computing. NanoAvionics will be the satellite bus provider and Mbryonics will produce…
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Viasat Opens New Ground Station in Japan at Infostellar Site
Viasat’s Real-Time Earth location in Japan. Photo: Viasat Viasat has opened a new ground station for its Real-Time Earth (RTE) service in Hokkaido, Japan, hosted at Infostellar’s site. Viasat said the new 7.3 meter, Ka-band antenna will support high data rate remote sensing missions in polar and inclined orbits through the RTE network. Viasat’s ground-station-as-a-service…
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SpaceX launches Starlink mission from Florida, delays west coast mission
Update 5:30 a.m. EDT/0930 UTC): SpaceX has delayed the Starlink Group 7-1 mission to Friday at 12:30 a.m. PDT (3:30 a.m. EDT (0430 UTC). No explanation was given. Update (10:10 p.m. EDT/0210 UTC): SpaceX adjusted the launch time of the Starlink Group 7-1 mission. The new T-0 is now 1:42 a.m. PDT (4:42 a.m. EDT,…
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Launch Roundup: SpaceX launches Starlink Group 6-10
Following a plethora of launches last week, the week of Aug. 14 through Aug. 20 only had three orbital launches—most of which are Chinese Starlink launches. The week started with the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC) launching the HEAD-3A/B/C/D/E satellites atop its Kuaxzhou 1A rocket. After that, SpaceX launched the Starlink Group 6-10…
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Let the review begin—SpaceX takes another step toward launching Starship again
The Federal Aviation Administration is now reviewing a mishap investigation report submitted by SpaceX regarding the company’s April test flight of its giant Starship rocket, a spokesperson for the regulatory agency said Tuesday. The milestone is noteworthy because it signals SpaceX has completed its investigation into the Starship test launch on April 20, which ended…
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Maui truthers are so dumb they’re using a Falcon 9 photo as wildfire evidence
I noticed an uptick in traffic to an old SpaceX news article a few days ago. First, a few dozen visitors. Then, a few hundred. And today, thousands. What the heck? The article itself is extremely lackluster. It was an excuse to run a photo gallery depicting a Falcon 9 launch from Vandenberg Air Force…
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NASA’s moon program mobile launcher rolls back to the launch pad for testing
NASA’s Mobile Launcher begins its journey from the park site near the Vehicle Assembly Building to launch pad 39B. Image: NASA. The launch tower supporting the first three Artemis moon missions was back on the move for the first time Wednesday after more than half a year of repairs and upgrades. NASA’s 380-foot-tall mobile launcher…