Tag: satellites
-
Rocket Lab launches four satellites for BlackSky, UnseenLabs and U.S. Air Force
Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket lifts off from its launch pad in New Zealand. (Rocket Lab via YouTube) Rocket Lab sent a foursome of satellites into orbit today for a threesome of customers, including the Seattle-based BlackSky Earth-watching venture. BlackSky’s sibling subsidiary, Spaceflight, handled the prelaunch logistics for the Global-4 satellite and for a pair of…
-
A rush of rockets: SpaceX Falcon 9 puts Israel’s Amos-17 telecom satellite in orbit
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from its Florida launch pad. (SpaceX via YouTube) SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket launched a Boeing-built, Israeli telecommunications satellite called Amos-17 into geosynchronous transfer orbit today, adding to what’s shaping up as a largesse of liftoffs. The launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida came at 7:23 p.m.…
-
Tethers Unlimited joins forces with TriSept to test system for reducing orbital debris
One version of the Terminator Tape system is designed to be integrated onto a 4-inch-wide CubeSat. A dime is included in the picture for a size comparison. (Tethers Unlimited Photo) Bothell, Wash.-based Tethers Unlimited will have its technology for deorbiting space debris put to its most ambitious test next year, during a satellite mission that…
-
Good news, bad news for Spaceflight: Satellite rideshare market is heating up
An artist’s conception shows a future SpaceX rocket deploying a satellite carrier in orbit. (SpaceX Illustration) Seattle-based Spaceflight has made a name for itself by putting together bunches of small satellites for launch on someone else’s rockets, but now the owners of some of those rockets are aiming to take the business for themselves. The…
-
UbiquitiLink wins $5.2M boost for satellite service that works with standard phones
UbiquitiLink’s system would allow users of mobile devices to connect using either ground-based or space-based networks. (UbiquitiLink Illustration) Virginia-based UbiquitiLink says it has raised another $5.2 million in seed funding for a network that aims to provide satellite connectivity for standard mobile devices. The latest investments from Revolution’s Rise of the Rest Seed Fund and…
-
Amazon asks FCC for approval of Project Kuiper broadband satellite operation
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos speaks at the re:MARS conference in Las Vegas. (GeekWire Photo / Alan Boyle) Amazon is asking the Federal Communications Commission for approval of its Project Kuiper satellite broadband venture, and referring to potential synergies with Amazon Web Services as a strong selling point. Related: GeekWire’s coverage of Project Kuiper GeekWire first…
-
SpaceX reports milestone for Starlink satellite links — and sparks a debate
An artist’s conception shows the deployment of SpaceX’s Starlink satellites. (SpaceX Illustration) In the wake of last month’s launch of 60 Starlink broadband data satellites, SpaceX says all but three of them are in communication with the company’s network of ground stations, including the satellite operation’s home base in Redmond, Wash. In an emailed update,…
-
SpaceX launches Radarsat constellation, with booster returning for foggy landing
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket rises above the fog surrounding California’s Vandenberg Air Force Base, sending three Canadian radar-sensing satellites spaceward. (SpaceX via YouTube) A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket rose out of California’s coastal fog today to send three radar-sensing satellites into orbit for the Canadian government. Little could be seen from the ground when the…
-
Lockheed Martin studies how to use a cloud of satellites for space missions
NASA and Lockheed Martin have been studying how small satellites could be knit together into a distributed swarm. (NASA Illustration) More and more computing is being done in the cloud, but so far, the cloud-based approach hasn’t been applied in space. Lockheed Martin is thinking about changing that. The aerospace giant has already registered two…
-
How AWS Ground Station is taking its giant leap for satellite links in small steps
An artist’s conception shows Capella Space’s radar satellite in orbit. (Capella Space Illustration) LAS VEGAS – Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos says his company has gotten so big that it has to branch out into business lines that “move the needle,” like the recently revealed Project Kuiper broadband satellite constellation. But Project Kuiper isn’t Amazon’s only…