Tag: satellites
-
T-Mobile’s coverage will get a big boost from SpaceX’s Starlink satellites, starting with texts
Starship prototypes serve as a backdrop for T-Mobile’s Mike Sievert and SpaceX’s Elon Musk. (T-Mobile Photo) T-Mobile subscribers will be getting a satellite upgrade to their wireless service, thanks to a newly announced partnership that takes advantage of SpaceX’s Starlink constellation. But don’t expect to start streaming high-definition videos via satellite to your T-Mobile connected…
-
Microsoft and Xplore team up with NOAA to demonstrate cloud-based satellite operations
An artist’s rendition shows the NOAA-18 satellite in orbit. (NOAA Illustration) What do you do with an aging weather satellite? If you’re the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, you turn to Microsoft Azure and a Seattle-area startup called Xplore to find out if there’s a cheaper way to keep it going. After a yearlong demonstration…
-
SpaceX launches 59 payloads, including Spaceflight’s latest breed of orbital tug
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket rises from its Florida launch pad. (SpaceX via YouTube) A new type of controllable orbital transfer vehicle built by Seattle-based Spaceflight Inc. made its debut today when SpaceX sent dozens of satellites into orbit on a Falcon 9 rocket. SpaceX’s Transporter-5 mission, which is part of the company’s rideshare program, lifted…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
Xplore acquires assets of Kubos flight software company as it ramps up for first space mission
An artist’s conception shows Xplore’s satellite platform in low Earth orbit. (Xplore Illustration) Redmond, Wash.-based Xplore says it’s acquired the assets of Kubos Corp., the creator of cloud-based mission and flight control software for satellites. Xplore’s co-founder and CEO, Jeff Rich, said in a news release that Kubos’ Major Tom software platform would be used…
-
Spaceflight Inc. hails a pair of successful launches as it deals with frictions in SpaceX relationship
Rocket Lab’s Electron launch vehicle lifts off into the skies over New Zealand, sending two BlackSky satellites into orbit. Seattle-based Spaceflight Inc. played a supporting role in the mission. (Joseph Baxter Photo via Rocket Lab) Thanks to its role in handling pre-launch logistics, Seattle-based Spaceflight Inc. can claim a share of the credit for two…