Tag: commercial-space
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Musk: Atmospheric tests of interplanetary spaceship could happen next year
Artist’s concept of the BFR spaceship deploying a satellite in orbit. Credit: SpaceX A team of SpaceX engineers is building a prototype of the spaceship Elon Musk hopes will one day carry people and cargo deep into the solar system, and it could begin low-altitude testing next year, kicking off a multi-step test campaign before…
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Photos: Soyuz rocket soars into space from French Guiana
A Soyuz rocket launched Friday with four commercial satellites to expand broadband Internet coverage in remote parts of the world, climbing into orbit from the Guiana Space Center positioned on the northeastern shore of South America. The Russian-made rocket lifted off at 1710:06 GMT (12:10:06 p.m. EST; 2:10:06 p.m. French Guiana time) Friday after a…
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FCC stings Swarm Technologies after an unauthorized launch of tiny satellites
India’s PSLV rocket lifts off in January, carrying controversial satellites into orbit. (ISRO Photo) A stealthy California startup called Swarm Technologies is facing the wrath of the Federal Communications Commission after its super-miniaturized satellites were launched without proper authorization. The flap was first reported last Friday in IEEE Spectrum. It all started when Swarm Technologies…
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Eutelsat plans satellite to assess potential for low-altitude constellation
Artist’s illustration of a six-unit, or 6U, CubeSat. Credit: NASA Ames Joining other established commercial geostationary satellite operators looking at fleets of communications platforms in low Earth orbit, Eutelsat announced Thursday it will launch a small testbed next year as a precursor to a potential network of data relay craft flying a few hundred miles…
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Four O3b satellites launched to beam Internet to developing world
A Soyuz rocket lifts off Friday from the Guiana Space Center with four O3b broadband satellites. Credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace – Photo Optique Video du CSG – S. Martin Four satellites set to join O3b’s expanding broadband network successfully launched Friday on top of a Russian-built Soyuz booster from French Guiana, joining 12 other craft linking developing…
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Blue Origin’s job listings hint that it could soon be signing up astronauts
An artist’s conception shows a Blue Origin passenger looking out a window in the New Shepard crew capsule. (Blue Origin Illustration) Some of the nearly 200 job opportunities posted by Blue Origin suggest Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos’ space venture is preparing to sign up passengers for its New Shepard suborbital spaceflights. One listing is looking…
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BlackSky shows off first next-generation Global satellite for Earth observation
An artist’s conception shows BlackSky’s Global satellites in orbit. (BlackSky Illustration) Spaceflight Industries’ BlackSky geospatial intelligence service is taking the wraps off its first operational satellite, Global-1, which will blaze the trail for what’s expected to be a 60-satellite Earth observation constellation. The Seattle-based venture plans to have four of the Global satellites launched within…
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Video: Deployment of the Hispasat 30W-6 satellite from the Falcon 9 rocket
The Hispasat 30W-6 satellite, set to begin a 15-year telecommunications mission, deployed from the upper stage of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket around 33 minutes after liftoff from Cape Canaveral Tuesday. The powerful commercial telecom craft rode SpaceX’s 50th Falcon 9 rocket flight into geostationary transfer orbit following a liftoff from Cape Canaveral’s Complex 40…
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Video: Press site view of Falcon 9 launch with Hispasat 30W-6
Credit: Steven Young/Spaceflight Now This video replay from a nearby viewing site shows the Falcon 9 rocket launching early Tuesday from Cape Canaveral with the Hispasat 30W-6 communications satellite. The 229-foot-tall (70-meter) Falcon 9 rocket took off at 12:33 a.m. EST (0533 GMT) Tuesday from Cape Canaveral’s Complex 40 launch pad and delivered its commercial…
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Photos: Falcon 9 rocket lights up the night with launch for Hispasat
SpaceX’s 50th Falcon 9 rocket flight took off from Florida’s Space Coast shortly after midnight Tuesday with the Hispasat 30W-6 communications satellite, firing into a moonlit night sky with 1.7 million pounds of thrust. Nine Merlin engines steered the 229-foot-tall (70-meter) Falcon 9 rocket eastward from Cape Canaveral, and the SpaceX-built launcher’s upper stage delivered…