Tag: Satellite
-
SpaceX sends Spanish telecom satellite into orbit with 50th Falcon 9 rocket launch
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket lofts the Hispasat 30W-6 satellite to space from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. (SpaceX Photo) SpaceX sent a Spanish broadband telecommunications satellite into orbit tonight, marking the 50th launch of a Falcon 9 rocket. The rocket sent Hispasat 30W-6 rose into the night sky from Cape Canaveral Air Force…
-
With $13.5M boost, Astranis unveils big plan to beam internet from small satellites
An artist’s conception shows an Astranis satellite in geostationary orbit. (Astranis Illustration) Astranis Space Technologies is taking the wraps off a plan to provide internet access to billions of people, using small-sized, low-cost satellites that are lofted into high-flying orbits. The San Francisco-based venture emerged from stealth mode today and reported a $13.5 million Series…
-
SpaceX launches its first Starlink internet satellites (and Spain’s Paz satellite, too)
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket blasts off from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. (SpaceX via YouTube) SpaceX put its first two prototype Starlink broadband satellites into orbit along with a Spanish radar imaging satellite today. The launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California came at 6:17 a.m. PT Thursday, 24 hours after strong upper-level…
-
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai endorses SpaceX’s plan for satellite broadband service
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai is on board with SpaceX’s satellite plan. (Flickr Photo / FCCDotGov) SpaceX’s plan to beam broadband services to America and the world via its Starlink satellite constellation got a big thumbs-up today from Ajit Pai, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. Pai’s endorsement isn’t exactly a surprise: The FCC already has…
-
Kepler Communications’ first satellite expands ‘Internet of Things’ to space
News Brief: Toronto-based Kepler Communications says its first Ku-band telecommunications satellite is in working order after a Jan. 19 launch from China’s Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. The Kipp nanosatellite, which is about the size of a loaf of bread, was one of six spacecraft delivered to orbit by a Long March 11 rocket. It’s designed…
-
Amid Zuma satellite controversy, SpaceX gets a vote of confidence from Air Force
News Brief: The classified satellite known as Zuma was said to have disappeared soon after its Jan. 7 launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, but the commander of the Air Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center is giving SpaceX a qualified thumbs-up. “Based on the data available, our team did not identify any information…
-
SpaceX puts 10 Iridium telecom satellites in orbit – and creates a spectacle in the sky
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket blasts off from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. (SpaceX via YouTube) SpaceX has sent 10 more satellites into orbit for the Iridium NEXT constellation, passing the halfway point in its 75-satellite launch contract. The satellites went into space aboard a two-stage Falcon 9 rocket launched at 5:27 p.m. PT today…
-
Planetary Resources’ prototype asteroid prospector set for January liftoff in India
India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle lifts off on a February space mission. (ISRO Photo) Redmond, Wash.-based Planetary Resources’ technology demonstrator satellite for asteroid prospecting is due for launch in early January, along with more than two dozen other satellites, aboard India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle. The latest word on the schedule for the PSLV-C40 mission…
-
UW team wins NASA’s nod for small satellites with magnetic braking systems
Magnetoshell aerocapture could help ease interplanetary spacecraft into orbit. (Credit: MSNW) NASA says it’ll provide resources for a University of Washington research team that’s working on a concept to put small satellites in orbit around other worlds using magnetic interactions. The concept, known as magnetoshell aerocapture, is one of nine university-led technology development projects winning…
-
19 spacecraft go missing after Russian weather satellite launch goes awry
A Soyuz rocket lifts off from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the Russian Far East. (Roscosmos Photo) Russia’s Meteor-M 2-1 weather satellite and 18 nanosatellites went missing today after their launch aboard a Soyuz rocket from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the Russian Far East. Among the lost spacecraft were 10 satellites that were supposed to be…