[ad_1] Normally, once the Kick Stage does its job, Rocket Lab de-orbits it to burn up in the atmosphere. However, this time it sent a command that switched it into Photon satellite mode to continue on a standalone mission called “First Light.” Intended as a demonstration, it’s equipped with solar panels and a camera that […]
Category: satellite
SpaceX’s latest launch took rare southern route from Florida
[ad_1] However, due to wildfire dangers near Vandenberg, the Air Force decided to allow SpaceX — and only SpaceX — to launch south from Florida. It made the exception because the Falcon 9 has an automatic flight safety system that can destroy the rocket it it has an anomaly or goes off its intended path. […]
Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket makes successful return to flight
[ad_1] The Electron booster’s payload was the “Sequoia” satellite from San Francisco-based Capella Space. The mission was called “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Optical,” because the satellite uses synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and not optical lenses to provide detailed Earth images. “Capella’s space-based radar can detect sub-0.5 meter changes on the surface of the Earth, […]
Watch Rocket Lab launch a Canon satellite into space at 5:19PM ET
[ad_1] Public fireworks shows may be in short supply this weekend due to the pandemic, but Rocket Lab is ready to fill the gap. It’s planning to launch its 13th mission, “Pics Or It Didn’t Happen,” from a complex on New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula at 5:19PM Eastern with a livestream (below) available 15 minutes before […]
EU will speed up its spaceflight plans in response to SpaceX and China
[ad_1] The modern space race is heating up, and the European Union is acutely aware that it needs to keep pace. Space chief Thierry Breton told Reuters in an interview that the EU is accelerating its plans in light of rapid progress by private companies like SpaceX as well as China’s successes. It’s moving the […]
CommStar will launch a relay satellite to talk to astronauts on the Moon
[ad_1] In theory, by using CommStar-1, governments and other private space ventures will be able to focus more resources on other aspects of their missions. In this way, CommStar is following in the footsteps of SpaceX, which just ferried its first NASA astronauts to the International Space Station. “CommStar-1 is a major step by the […]
SpaceX’s next Starlink launch will help improve satellite imagery of the Earth
[ad_1] That might not sound like a lot, but it means that previously indistinct vehicles on roadways can now be identified as being a car or a truck, and it’s this sort of development that’s needed to help bolster infrastructure for the eventual arrival of autonomous vehicles — and even to improve the way we […]
SpaceX’s latest batch of internet satellites includes one with a sun shield
[ad_1] SpaceX is launching another pack of Starlink satellites into orbit at 9:25PM Eastern (weather permitting), but this won’t be a typical mission. As TechCrunch explains, one of the 60 internet satellites in the bunch will test a sun visor that should make the vehicles less of a nuisance in the night sky. If the […]
NASA backs studies on environmental effects of COVID-19 lockdowns
[ad_1] You’ve probably heard stories of skies and water clearing up while most people stay at home during the COVID-19 pandemic, but how much have things improved, really? Scientists are about to rely on NASA technology to find out. The space agency is funding four research projects that will rely on satellites and various data […]
The COVID-19 shutdown is making weather prediction more difficult
[ad_1] WMO The ground and satellite components of that system are largely automated and generally immune to at least the immediate impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Lars Peter Riishojgaard, Director, Earth System Branch in WMO’s Infrastructure Department believes that the impact of losing those aerial observations will still be “relatively modest.” However, he explained in […]