Tag: Satellite
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NRO strikes multibillion-dollar deals with BlackSky, Maxar and Planet for spy satellite imagery
An artist’s conception shows one of BlackSky’s satellites in orbit. (Black Sky Illustration) Three satellite imaging companies are in line to receive billions of dollars from the National Reconnaissance Office over the next decade, thanks to a string of contracts announced today. The companies are the same satellite operators who won study contracts from the…
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Rohde & Schwarz to Host its Second Virtual Satellite Industry Event this Month
Rohde & Schwarz has announced its second Satellite Industry Day that starts on May 24, 2022, 3 PM. CET. This event will enable participants to virtually meet with industry partners and leading experts. The emerging market of Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN) for high rate data internet, data links and globally available communication services is viewed by…
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30 years after Intelsat VI rescue, Northrop Grumman aims to make in-space servicing a permanent reality
On 7 May 1992, Space Shuttle Endeavour lifted off on her first voyage at 23:40 UTC from Pad-B at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Her target: Intelsat VI F-3 (now known as Intelsat 603). The goal: rendezvous with, repair, and re-release the satellite. In the now-30 years since that mission, on-orbit satellite repair and…
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30 years after Intelsat VI rescue, Northrop Grumman aims to make in-space servicing a permanent reality
On 7 May 1992, Space Shuttle Endeavour lifted off on her first voyage at 23:40 UTC from Pad-B at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Her target: Intelsat VI F-3 (now known as Intelsat 603). The goal: rendezvous with, repair, and re-release the satellite. In the now-30 years since that mission, on-orbit satellite repair and…
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Researchers Develop New Method to Measure Radio Antennas for Astronomy and Satellite Communication
Joel Berkson, a third-year doctoral student at the University of Arizona James C. Wyant College of Optical Sciences and Steward Observatory, has developed a new way for precisely measuring the surfaces of radio antennas, which are used to collect and focus radio waves for astronomy and satellite communications. These dish-shaped antennas, like the ones depicted…
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Viasat Selected by NASA to Provide Cost-Effective, Near-Earth Communication Services
Viasat, a global communications company, has announced that it was selected by NASA (on April 20th) to support its Communications Services Project (CSP), which seeks to accelerate the development of near-Earth communications by partnering with commercial satellite communications (SATCOM) providers. Aligned to the CSP objectives, Viasat is developing a space relay capability that will leverage…
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Astronomers make an Earth Day plea to rein in satellite constellations for the environment’s sake
Astronomers say this streak in a Hubble Space Telescope image is likely to have been created by a Starlink satellite flying just a few miles above Hubble. (MAST Image via Nature Astronomy / Simon Porter) Astronomers have issued an Earth Day call for environmentalism to be extended more fully to the final frontier, and for…
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NASA awards millions to SpaceX and Amazon’s Project Kuiper for satellite communications
An artist’s conception shows a NASA Tracking and Data Relay Satellite in orbit. (NASA Illustration) Six satellite ventures — including SpaceX’s Starlink network and Amazon’s Project Kuiper — are due to receive a total of $278.5 million in NASA funding to demonstrate next-generation space communication services in Earth orbit. The Communications Services Project is intended…
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Activate the ion drive! LeoStella will buy Astra’s electric propulsion systems for small satellites
An electric propulsion system lights up its thruster with xenon propellant. (Astra / Apollo Fusion Photo) Astra Space says it’s made a deal with Tukwila, Wash.-based LeoStella to provide multiple electric propulsion systems for LeoStella’s small satellites, with deliveries due to begin later this year. Financial terms of the contract were not disclosed. LeoStella is…
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Amazon reserves up to 83 rocket launches for Project Kuiper broadband satellite constellation
Amazon plans to have satellites sent into orbit by (from left) United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan Centaur rockets, Blue Origin’s New Glenn rockets and Arianespace’s Ariane 6 rockets. (Amazon Illustration) Amazon has secured as many as 83 launches on three types of heavy-lift rockets to put more than 1,500 satellites into low Earth orbit for its…