Tag: Satellite
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Delta 4 rocket launches NROL-71 spy satellite after a month’s worth of delays
United Launch Alliance’s Delta 4 Heavy rocket lifts off from California’s Vandenberg Air Force Base, sending the NROL-71 classified payload into space. (ULA Photo) The National Reconnaissance Office’s latest classified spy satellite, NROL-71, was launched today by a United Launch Alliance Delta 4 Heavy rocket into California’s sunny skies. Today’s trouble-free countdown at Vandenberg Air…
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Boeing leads $14M funding round for Isotropic Systems to boost satellite links
A cutaway view shows Isotropic Systems’ integrated terminal for satellite communications. (Isotropic Systems) London-based Isotropic Systems, a startup that is developing flat-panel antennas and high-throughput terminals for satellite communications, says it has raised $14 million in a Series A financing round led by Boeing HorizonX Ventures. Isotropic’s user terminals take advantage of optical beam steering,…
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Astranis and Pacific Dataport team up on satellite broadband access for Alaska
An artist’s conception shows Astranis’ telecommunications microsatellites in orbit. (Astranis Illustration) Astranis Space Technologies says it has struck a deal with Alaska’s Pacific Dataport Inc. to provide America’s northernmost state with three times as much satellite data bandwidth as it has today, via its first satellite in geostationary orbit. “It is a firm contract in…
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Satellogic strikes Chinese deal to launch 90 satellites for Earth-watching network
China’s Long March 6 rocket lifts off from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in 2017. (CCTV via YouTube) An international space venture called Satellogic says it will have 90 satellites launched by a Chinese company to create an Earth-observing constellation. The first launch by the China Great Wall Industry Corp. under the newly announced deal,…
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SpaceX launches final batch of Iridium telecom satellites (and lands rocket)
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from California’s Vandenberg Air Force Base, carrying 10 Iridium NEXT satellites into space. (SpaceX via YouTube) SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket deployed the eighth and final set of next-generation Iridium satellites into orbit today, closing off a two-year launch campaign. The rocket rose into partly cloudy skies from California’s Vandenberg…
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FCC levies $900,000 fine against Swarm Technologies for unlawful satellite launch
As initially designed, Swarm Technologies’ controversial SpaceBEE satellites were each roughly the size of a sandwich. (Swarm Technologies Illustration via FCC) The Federal Communications Commission says Swarm Technologies must pay a $900,000 fine and be subject to increased scrutiny for having a tiny set of satellites launched without authorization. The penalties were laid out in…
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SpaceX wins $28.7M contract from Air Force for data connectivity research
SpaceX’s plan for global broadband satellite coverage calls for using sets of satellites orbiting at different altitudes. (PatentYogi via YouTube) SpaceX has won a $28.7 million fixed-price contract from the Air Force Research Laboratory for experiments in data connectivity involving ground sites, aircraft and space assets — a project that could give a boost to the…
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Spaceflight signs up Brazil for Amazonia-1 satellite launch on Indian rocket in 2020
An artist’s conception shows the Amazonia-1 satellite. (INPE Illustration) Seattle-based Spaceflight says it’s struck one of its biggest deals for a satellite launch with Brazil’s space research institute, focusing on putting the Amazonia-1 satellite into low Earth orbit in mid-2020. The contract was awarded on Tuesday during a ceremony in São José dos Campos, attended by…
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Report: SpaceX raising $500M to get Starlink satellite service off the ground
SpaceX’s two prototype Starlink satellites are seen on either side of their carrier in advance of their launch in February. (SpaceX via YouTube) SpaceX is set to raise $500 million in new investment to boost the development of its Starlink internet satellite service, The Wall Street Journal reported today. The funding round sets the California-based…
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Rocket Lab sends 13 miniature satellites into orbit from New Zealand for NASA
Rocket Lab’s Electron Rocket lifts off from Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand. (Rocket Lab via YouTube) Rocket Lab has sent its first payloads for NASA into orbit from its New Zealand launch pad, atop a low-cost Electron rocket powered by 3-D-printed engines. Liftoff from Launch Complex 1 on New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula came at…