Tag: satellites
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Seattle’s satellite industry plays leading role in BlackSky’s Earth-observing network
The two BlackSky satellites that were launched, and lost, during a Rocket Lab mission are seen here at LeoStella’s satellite factory being prepared for shipment to New Zealand in March. (LeoStella Photo) Update for 6:30 a.m. PT May 15: Two BlackSky satellites were lost when the second stage of Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket suffered an…
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Xplore reveals its plans to open satellite manufacturing facility in Seattle area
Xplore’s new satellite manufacturing facility is in the Redmond complex that once housed Planetary Resources. (Xplore Photo) Xplore, a Seattle-area startup that aims to build satellites for interplanetary missions, has a new address in Redmond, Wash. — in the same office complex that once housed the Planetary Resources asteroid-mining venture. “Xplore’s 22,000-square-foot facility is tailor-made…
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Amazon sees ‘positive outcome’ after FCC puts conditions on a shift in SpaceX Starlink satellites
An artist’s conception shows the deployment of SpaceX’s Starlink satellites. (SpaceX Illustration) The Federal Communications Commission has given the go-ahead for SpaceX to modify the planned orbits for future satellites in its Starlink broadband internet constellation — a move that SpaceX says will result in improved, safer operations but has faced resistance from Amazon’s Project…
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RBC Signals raises $1.2M to get ready for the coming boom in satellite data traffic
RBC Signals acquires communication service capacity from the operators of ground stations around the world, including C-CORE’s facility in Inuvik in the Canadian Arctic. (Photo via RBC Signals) Redmond, Wash.-based RBC Signals says it’s closed on a $1.2 million funding round that’s meant to put the venture in position to meet the growing demand for…
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Amazon picks the rocket that’ll launch the first Kuiper satellites — and it’s not from Blue Origin
An illustration shows an Atlas V rocket launching Amazon’s Project Kuiper satellites. (ULA / Amazon) United Launch Alliance says it’s struck a deal for a series of nine launches of its Atlas V rocket to send satellites into low Earth orbit for Amazon’s Project Kuiper broadband internet constellation. Amazon emphasized that this is just the…
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BlackSky’s latest satellite delivers first images (and AI insights) hours after launch
One of the first pictures from the BlackSky 7 satellite zeroed in on Perth, Australia, and the city’s billion-dollar Waterbank development site. Click on the image for a larger version. (BlackSky Photo) That didn’t take long: BlackSky says the latest Earth observation satellite in its growing constellation delivered its first imagery less than a day…
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Florida space officials discuss satellite factory with ‘Project Kraken,’ but it’s not Project Kuiper
Amazon’s Project Kuiper has its headquarters in Redmond, Wash. (GeekWire Photo / Alan Boyle) An unnamed space company may have picked up a code name with Seattle connotations during negotiations for a satellite factory in Florida, but that doesn’t mean it’s associated with Amazon. Amazon says its Project Kuiper broadband satellite mega-constellation isn’t “Project Kraken,”…
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Critics take aim at SpaceX’s Starlink, Amazon’s Project Kuiper and other satellite constellations
A rocket’s-eye view shows a stack of SpaceX Starlink satellites just before orbital deployment. (SpaceX Photo) SpaceX, Amazon and OneWeb say their satellite mega-constellations will make broadband internet goodness available to billions of people around the world who are unserved or underserved — but some say those promises have to be weighed against the potential…
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SpaceX seeks FCC’s OK to extend Starlink satellite service to vehicles, ships, planes
SpaceX’s Starlink antenna connects with a network of satellites to provide high-speed internet access. (SpaceX Starlink Photo) SpaceX is asking the Federal Communications Commission to authorize the operation of equipment extending the company’s Starlink satellite broadband internet service to aircraft, ships and moving vehicles. Commercial mobile services would represent a new frontier for Starlink, which…
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SpaceX aims to expand its Starlink satellite operation to Texas and set up Starbase City
SpaceX’s Starlink antenna connects with satellites for high-speed internet access. (SpaceX Starlink Photo) SpaceX is planning to break ground on a “state-of-the-art manufacturing facility” in Austin, Texas, to support a satellite operation that got its start in Redmond, Wash. The company’s billionaire CEO, Elon Musk, set up the Starlink satellite operation in Redmond five years…