Tag: Planet
-
Second Iranian satellite launch attempt in a month fails
Images captured by DigitalGlobe’s WorldView 3 Earth observation satellite on Feb. 5 (left) show launch preparations at a facility in Iran’s Semnan province. The Feb. 5 image also shows the shadow of a Safir rocket on the pad. An image from WorldView 3 taken Feb. 6 shows burn scars at the pad, and water runoff…
-
Iran admits failure in satellite launch attempt
An Iranian Simorgh rocket launch carrying an Earth observation spacecraft faltered before reaching orbit Tuesday after analysts used imagery from commercial U.S. satellites in recent weeks to track preparations for the mission. The rocket lifted off with Iran’s Payam-e Amirkabir imaging satellite before dawn Tuesday at the Imam Khomeini Spaceport, located in Semnan province in…
-
Iran admits failure in satellite launch attempt
An Iranian Simorgh rocket launch carrying an Earth observation spacecraft faltered before reaching orbit Tuesday after analysts used imagery from commercial U.S. satellites in recent weeks to track preparations for the mission. The rocket lifted off with Iran’s Payam-e Amirkabir imaging satellite before dawn Tuesday at the Imam Khomeini Spaceport, located in Semnan province in…
-
Rocket Lab to launch second orbital-class rocket as soon as next week
Rocket Lab’s second Electron rocket at the company’s New Zealand launch base. Credit: Rocket Lab Rocket Lab has scheduled the launch of its second Electron rocket from New Zealand as soon as Dec. 7, U.S. time, on a test flight that will aim to deploy three small CubeSats in orbit. The two-stage booster has a…
-
Second Electron rocket shipped to New Zealand launch site
File photo of an Electron rocket. Credit: Rocket Lab Rocket Lab’s second flight-ready Electron rocket has arrived at its launch base in New Zealand for the company’s first mission to deliver commercial satellites into orbit. The launch is expected as soon as December, once engineers and technicians complete several weeks of testing on the rocket.…
-
Planet acquires rival satellite company from Google
One of Terra Bella’s SkySat satellites captured this image of downtown San Francisco on Dec. 27. Credit: Planet/Terra Bella San Francisco-based Planet, a company with a fleet of miniature satellites in orbit looking down on Earth, has acquired Terra Bella from Google to add high-resolution imaging to its business portfolio. The financial terms of the…
-
Astronomers spot most distant known world in the solar system: V774104
An artist’s conception shows an object in the distant Kuiper Belt. The newly reported object is beyond the Kuiper Belt, in a region known as the inner Oort Cloud. (Credit: G. Bacon / STScI / NASA) Astronomers say they’ve identified the most distant celestial object in our solar system – a speck of light more than three…
-
Ice volcanoes on Pluto? NASA’s New Horizons probe spots ‘weird’ mountains
A color-coded topographical map, based on New Horizons data, shows Piccard Mons on the surface of Pluto. The mountain’s structure suggests that it’s an ice volcano. (Credit: NASA / JHUAPL / SwRI) Scientists with NASA’s New Horizons mission say that at least a couple of the miles-high mountains on Pluto look as if they’re ice-belching…
-
NASA mission’s leader calls B.S. on Pluto haters: Will it make a difference?
New Horizons principal investigator Alan Stern’s jaw drops as he ogles the first pictures to be sent back from the probe’s Pluto flyby, shown on a fellow team member’s laptop. (Credit: Bill Ingalls / NASA) Can you say “bullshit” at NASA? The principal investigator for NASA’s New Horizons mission did, in an outburst directed at the tortuous…
-
Asteroid-mining company raises $1M for world’s first crowdfunded space telescope
It’s official: The world’s first crowdfunded, public use space telescope will be sent into space within two years. Planetary Resources, the Bellevue-based asteroid-mining company, met its Kickstarter campaign goal of $1 million on Thursday, as more than 12,000 backers pitched in to launch a customized version of the company’s Arkyd-100 robot spaceship with an external camera into near-Earth…