Tag: Satellite
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Xplore wins $2M contract from Pentagon initiative to speed up satellite development
An artist’s conception shows the Xcraft spacecraft platform in orbit. (Xplore Illustration) Redmond, Wash.-based Xplore says it has received a $2 million contract from National Security Innovation Capital, a hardware development accelerator within the Pentagon’s Defense Innovation Unit, to speed up work on Xplore’s Xcraft platform. The payload-hosting spacecraft is due for its first launch…
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Spaceflight Inc. unveils a new breed of orbital tug that’s built for far-out missions
An artist’s conception shows the Sherpa-ES orbital transfer vehicle. (Spaceflight Inc. Graphic) When a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket sends a robotic lander to the moon’s south pole, perhaps as early as next year, Seattle-based Spaceflight Inc. plans to make a few extra deliveries with its own piggyback spacecraft. The mission, known as GEO Pathfinder, will…
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Beyond satellites: Now that it’s gone public, BlackSky will boldly go into new markets
BlackSky CEO Brian O’Toole (center) and other company executives celebrate ringing the opening bell on the New York Stock Exchange. (Black Sky Photo) As a private venture, BlackSky made a name for itself providing satellite imagery and data analysis primarily for military and government customers. But now that it’s an independent, publicly traded company, the…
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Amazon fires back at SpaceX in regulatory war of words over satellite constellations
An artist’s conception shows an Atlas V rocket launching Amazon’s Project Kuiper satellites. (United Launch Alliance / Amazon Illustration) Amazon laid out out a laundry list of SpaceX’s regulatory tussles today in a letter sent to the Federal Communications Commission, marking the latest chapter in a bare-knuckles battle over broadband satellite constellations. The letter —…
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Kymeta teams up with OneWeb to test mobile satellite broadband service
Kymeta and OneWeb test a u8-based data terminal with OneWeb’s constellation of satellites. (Kymeta Photo) Redmond, Wash.-based Kymeta Corp., the mobile connectivity company backed by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, has joined forces with OneWeb to test satellite broadband services that make use of Kymeta’s u8 flat-panel antenna system. “I’m very happy to report back that…
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Elon Musk goads Jeff Bezos on Twitter as their prolonged space spat escalates
The rivalry between SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has surfaced on Twitter. Again. (Musk Photo: TED via YouTube; Bezos Photo: GeekWire / Kevin Lisota) SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has fired a fresh volley of tart tweets at Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon and the Blue Origin space venture, in the…
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Facebook’s satellite connectivity team switches over to Amazon’s Project Kuiper
A schematic shows the design for the phased-array antennas to be used for Amazon’s Project Kuiper satellite broadband network. (Amazon Graphic) Facebook has struck a deal to have more than a dozen of its wireless internet experts move over to Amazon to work on its Project Kuiper satellite broadband network, The Information reported today. An…
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SpaceX launches 88 spacecraft into orbit — including two of Spaceflight’s orbital tugs
A SpaceX Falcon 9 booster makes its landing after the Transporter-2 launch. (SpaceX via YouTube) SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket sent dozens of satellites into orbit today with a launch that featured an unusual on-the-ground touchdown for its first-stage booster. Eighty-eight spacecraft were packed aboard the two-stage rocket, which took off from Cape Canaveral Space Force…
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LeoStella delivers first Loft Orbital satellite for SpaceX’s jam-packed rideshare mission
Loft Orbital’s YAM-3 satellite is on display in the foreground at LeoStella’s factory in Tukwila, Wash. In the background, clean-room workers use their arms to spell out Y-A-M-3. (Leostella Photo) SpaceX is getting set to launch scores of satellites for its Transporter-2 rideshare mission, and one of those satellites marks a milestone for LeoStella. Loft…
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Inside look: Spaceflight ships out Sherpa orbital tugs to give 36 spacecraft a ride
Tony Frego, Spaceflight Inc.’s senior director of mission management, shows off the Sherpa-LTE1 orbital transportation vehicle and its electric propulsion system. (GeekWire Photo / Alan Boyle) AUBURN, Wash. — A pair of space tugs are beginning their journey from Spaceflight Inc.’s clean room, south of Seattle, to low Earth orbit. Along the way, the Sherpa…