Tag: Satellite
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Images start to stream in from new crop of satellites after two launch extravaganzas
A satellite image of Beijing, captured by one of Planet’s SkySat spacecraft, shows the Chinese capital’s futuristic high-speed rail station toward the left edge of the frame. (Planet Photo) More than 100 payloads have been put into orbit over the past couple of weeks, including 64 satellites riding a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and 31…
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Spaceflight’s 64-satellite extravaganza inches closer to SpaceX launch
A twice-flown SpaceX Falcon booster is readied for its third mission, set for launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Scorch marks give the first-stage booster a “sooty” appearance. (SpaceX Photo via Twitter) Seattle-based Spaceflight Industries is closing in on what’s shaping up as a grand convergence in commercial space. Spaceflight, which handles launch logistics…
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India’s PSLV rocket launches BlackSky’s Global-1 satellite (plus 30 other satellites)
India’s PSLV rocket lifts off to send 31 satellites into orbit. (ISRO Video) The first Earth observation satellite for Seattle-based BlackSky’s Global constellation has been sent into orbit aboard an Indian rocket. Global-1 was just one of 30 secondary payloads for the PSLV-C43 mission, launched at 9:57 a.m. local time Thursday (8:27 p.m. PT Wednesday)…
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SpaceX launches Qatar’s Es’hail-2 telecom satellite, and then lands Falcon 9 booster
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, sending the Es’hail-2 satellite into space. (SpaceX via YouTube) SpaceX sent the Es’hail-2 telecommunications satellite into orbit today, then brought the Falcon 9 rocket’s first-stage booster back down for an at-sea landing. The Falcon 9 lifted off from Launch Complex…
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Rocket Lab’s low-cost Electron launcher puts satellites in orbit from New Zealand
Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket rises from its launch pad on New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula. (Rocket Lab via YouTube) Rocket Lab executed its second orbital mission today, sending six small satellites and an experimental drag sail into orbit from an oceanside launch pad in New Zealand. Liftoff of the Electron rocket came at 4:50 p.m. New…
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SpaceX sets its sights on a lower orbit for Starlink broadband network’s first satellites
SpaceX’s satellite plan suggests that Starlink spacecraft would be placed in two different sets of orbits, with an intial wave of satellites at an altitude of 550 kilometers. (PatentYogi via YouTube) SpaceX wants to lower the bar for its first batch of Starlink broadband satellites, with the aim of beginning deployment by the end of…
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SpaceX reorganizes Starlink satellite operation, reportedly with high-level firings
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket blasts off from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, sending the first two Starlink demonstration satellites into orbit. (SpaceX via YouTube) SpaceX says it has reorganized its satellite development operation in Redmond, Wash., to accelerate design and testing of the elements for its planned satellite broadband constellation — and high-level departures…
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It’s a first: Virgin Orbit fits LauncherOne rocket under the wing of Cosmic Girl jet
Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne rocket undergoes fit checks underneath a 747 jet that’s been modified to serve as a carrier airplane. (Virgin Orbit Photo via Twitter) What do you get when you cross a Boeing 747 with a rocket launcher? You get something like what you see in the pictures that Virgin Orbit sent out today, showing…
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Pale Red Dot: NASA’s MarCO probe snaps first picture of Mars taken by a CubeSat
Mars shows up as a pale red dot on a picture taken by one of NASA’s twin MarCO spacecraft on Oct. 2. Click on the image for a larger version. (NASA / JPL-Caltech Photo) Mars looks like nothing more than a reddish speck in a picture captured by one of NASA’s twin MarCO spacecraft, but…
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Boeing leads $3M round to boost Accion Systems’ electric space propulsion system
An artist’s conception shows Accion Systems’ electrospray thruster chips (in gold) arranged in a propulsion array on a satellite. (Accion Systems Illustration / Zina Deretsky) Boeing’s venture capital fund is leading a $3 million investment round for Accion Systems, a Boston-based startup whose electric propulsion system for satellites could get its next in-space test early…